Parents
Hello everyone, and welcome to SMHS Speech & Debate '21-'22!
It's exciting to have students back on campus, and in-person practices have been running smoothly.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
- All students (debate and speech) must attend 3 tournaments per semester for a total of 6 in the year
- All tournaments, date, formats, and locations are subject to change pending current pandemic
- To request tournament registration, tournament registration doc and payment must be completed by the deadline. Coaching staff makes final determination on tournament entries.
PRACTICES:
- SPEECH: Mondays and Fridays 4:30-6:30pm
- DEBATE: Mondays and Wednesday 3:30-5:30pm
PAYMENT INFORMATION:
Follow instructions carefully so you are credited and registered for the correct tournament.
The following information must be included with payment:
- "SMHS Speech & Debate"
- Student Name
- Tournament & Event
- Judge Name
*This is very important as we now required to share a Venmo account under VAPA.
*Payment methods:
- VENMO: @SMHS-VAPA
"Friends of SMHS VAPA" under "Business"
Due by 6:00PM on due date
- or BY CHECK: payable to "Friends of SMHS VAPA – Speech & Debate".
Drop into lockbox in room 402 by 6:00PM on due date
CASH WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, NO EXCEPTIONS
JUDGING:
The Team is generally required to provide judges in order for our students to compete ('The Icebreaker' being an exception). Generally, 1 judge covers 5 Speech entries, and for Debate, 1 judge covers ~2 students, depending on the event. Please make sure your student communicates with other students and with you to coordinate judges when signing up for competitions. All parents should take turns judging to keep the team running. Absolutely no experience is required, and the vast majority of judges are parents just like you!
There are many resources on how to judge speech and debate, but here are some helpful links:
How to be a great volunteer judge:
Here is a helpful video on how to fill out a Tabroom ballot:
**Judging instructions may vary slightly between tournaments. Please familiarize yourself with the tournament you're judging on Tabroom, and follow those guidelines!
