Full Invitation as a PDF
Schedule
Guidelines and Scoresheets

Dear Colleagues and Members of DANEIS,

You are cordially invited to the 4th Annual Northfield Mount Hermon Public Speaking Tournament, to be held on April 5, 2020. It includes three speaking opportunities in this order:

1. Interpretive Reading (mandatory)

2. After-Dinner or Persuasive Speaking (choose one)

3. Impromptu Speaking (mandatory)

Speakers and coaches should arrive between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. We will be providing brunch in the morning, and a light meal after the third round of events. Event guidelines are enclosed and we hope will answer your other questions. The registration fee is $15.00 per speaker.

Each school is expected to bring at least one judge. You may register one or more speakers with a maximum of six. If you wish to bring more than 4 speakers, we ask that you provide a second judge. To be eligible for team awards, you must register at least four speakers. First, second, and third place awards will be given in each category. Team trophies will also be awarded to first-, second-, and third-place schools. A “best speaker” will also be named. Please read event guidelines carefully. We would ask that all After-Dinner and Persuasive speeches have been created within this academic year. Impromptu speeches must actually be impromptu…please no canned speeches!

Should you have last minute changes to your team, please contact Peter Weis on the morning of the tournament at (413)-325-3299.

Please respond by Friday, March 27th. We look forward to hosting you in April.

Sincerely,
Flo Auerbach, Society President

Peter Weis, ’78, Advisor to the Debate Society
M.K. Brake, Assistant Coach

Officers:
Alex Fan
Ellie Flynn
Isabel May
Daniil Ozernyi
Zach Nachlis

Full Invitation as a PDF
Schedule of Events
DANEIS Cross‐ex Debate Ballot
Guidelines for Judging Oregon Style Cross-Examination, Policy Debates (30 pt. scale)
Directions to Groton

February 23, 2020

Dear fellow debaters and coaches:

The Groton School Debating Society is excited to invite you to our inaugural Oregon Style Prepared Debate Tournament on Sunday, April 19, 2020. The tournament will consist of three rounds of cross-ex style debate in both the advanced and the novice divisions. Pairs will debate on the same side of the resolution for all three rounds. The resolution for the tournament will be:

Resolved that the United States Department of Energy should build or subsidize the development of several new nuclear power plants.

Please note that this resolution is intentionally open ended. Affirmative teams are strongly encouraged to develop more specific plans as they research and prepare for the tournament. For a more detailed information on plans and expectations for an Oregon style debate, please review Curt Robison’s excellent discussion of generic debate responsibilities (which is attached to this message).

Schools may enter one 4-person team in each of the advanced and novice divisions (two 4-person teams in total) and must provide a judge for each team entered (Groton will not be able to provide judges). Experienced advanced debaters may judge in the novice division, but per DANEIS rules, advanced teams must be accompanied by an adult judge. Fees for the debate are $75 per team and $15 per observer. Checks should be made payable to Groton School. Schools should register by email to:
mgnozzio@groton.org. Please let us know by April 5th the number of participants (advanced teams, novice teams, and observers) you would like to register. Please also include the names of debaters. Early registrations would be greatly appreciated.

Scoring for this debate will be based on a 30-point scale. A sample ballot is attached. All judges should be briefed on judging criteria in advance of the tournament. We ask that you please pay particular attention to the categories outlined at the end of the attached Guidelines for Judging Oregon Style CrossExamination, Policy Debates. In an effort to encourage consistency across rounds, we will be asking that all judges enter a score between 1 and 5 for each category.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at 617-650-3236. We also request that you call us at 617-650-3236 on the morning of the tournament, between the hours of 8:00am and 9:30am, to report any changes in your final registration.

We hope that you can join us and look forward to welcoming you to the Circle on April 19th.

Sincerely,
Michael Gnozzio, Andy Reyes, and Stephen Fernandez
Faculty Advisors, Groton School Debating Society