National Speech Championships and me.

[AZSpeechCoach]

Just returned from Philly, where the National Forensic League had its championship tournament this week. My team kicked some butt. I had three students in the Student Congress event, where the students take on the role of a mock Congress and engage in debate over fake (but somewhat realistic) legislation (without the nasty partisanism and . Several thousand students compete in the qualifiers from all over the country, 430 made it to Philly, 64 students made it to the semifinals, and only 24 students made it to the final legislative session.

Arizona has never been a power in Congress. My high school set a new state record when all 3 of my students made semifinals. The previous record was 2, set last year by one of my students and another school. One of my students made it all the way to the final round, the first time that any Arizona student has made it that far. I have my first national finalist! Next year, I'm shooting for a top 9 finish in the finals, at which point the students are invited up on stage at the final awards ceremony.

And, cheesesteaks rock.


So does the Liberty Bell.

[kcchief19]

That's awesome! Getting three from the same school in the semis is pretty amazing. Congratulations!

Just curious, how much attention does your area give Student Congress during the competition year? I don't know if it has changed much since my day, but in Missouri we would go to 10 regular season tournaments per year and usually only one would offer a Student Congress competition, and even then they would usually run it during IEs, so debaters who did extemp or oratory would have to choose one of the other. It was usually a tournament later in the year to give people a chance to get ready for the district Student Congress.

I also don't know if this is standard, but we ran out Student Congress after NFL Districts and the students voted on the winners after the judges selected the finalists. The people who were voted to Congress were usually popular competitors who missed out on nationals in their primary event. I always kind of wished our district took it more seriously, because I know other areas do.

I think it's great how well your team did. Way to go!

[Suicane75]

Congrats man. Glad you had good results and enjoyed the city.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by AZSpeechCoach

Just returned from Philly, where the National Forensic League had its championship tournament this week. My team kicked some butt. I had three students in the Student Congress event, where the students take on the role of a mock Congress and engage in debate over fake (but somewhat realistic) legislation (without the nasty partisanism and . Several thousand students compete in the qualifiers from all over the country, 430 made it to Philly, 64 students made it to the semifinals, and only 24 students made it to the final legislative session.

Arizona has never been a power in Congress. My high school set a new state record when all 3 of my students made semifinals. The previous record was 2, set last year by one of my students and another school. One of my students made it all the way to the final round, the first time that any Arizona student has made it that far. I have my first national finalist! Next year, I'm shooting for a top 9 finish in the finals, at which point the students are invited up on stage at the final awards ceremony.

And, cheesesteaks rock.


So does the Liberty Bell.

Way to break that many students. That's pretty awesome.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Did you compete at the NCFL nationals?

I was a judge for speech events at NCFL nationals in Milwaukee (doing four preliminary rounds plus an octofinal). A student from the school I was affiliated with finished 4th in Congress, with another finalist. We were quite surprised to receive the rotating Congress trophy thanks in part to their efforts, and more surprised to find that we had previously held it in 1988.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Dola, it's quite an experience when your team has a finalist, because you don't know how they finished and they read off the finalists in reverse order of finish; it's quite suspenseful as you're hoping not to hear their name. And each name that gets announced that's not theirs, the suspense builds.

[Easy Mac]

I thought this was going to be about the national grammar rodeo in Canada

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wednesday

Dola, it's quite an experience when your team has a finalist, because you don't know how they finished and they read off the finalists in reverse order of finish; it's quite suspenseful as you're hoping not to hear their name. And each name that gets announced that's not theirs, the suspense builds.

Springfield had a bit of a power house in my day, so I had several friends who were finalists including one national champ. I wish I had been there to root them on. They all had great times.

My dentist finished second in team debate in the'60s and he's still pretty pumped about it.

[AZSpeechCoach]

We don't do NCFL. Our state hasn't had a diocesan moderator for a few years now, and there's been no interest in having one. Congress in Arizona has been getting better, but it is not a focus of competition. Most invitational tournaments hold Congresses on Friday from 8:00-2:30, with three houses seated, but there is no final round. The top nominees are announced in each house, and all of the students from that house vote. This means that we have three "Congress champions" each tournament. Congress-only tournaments that have been suggested in the past have been cancelled for lack of interest. Generally, it seems to be a way for some kids to get out of school on Friday, for schools to house those kids who will be doing debate later in the day, and others to really boost their NFL points. Students only take their Congress bid to Nats if they haven't qualified in anything else. We don't have Congress specialists, as I saw coming out of the midwest or Florida.

That having been said, the past few years have provided an emphasis on serious bill writing, and serious competition for the Presiding Officers. This showing may give Arizona some credibility in Congress for next year's Nats.