West Plains Howl Out Loud

The West Plains Speech and Debate Team cordially invites you to compete at the inaugural West Plains Howl Out Loud tournament on Saturday, January 18.

TRAVEL/ARRIVAL: Our address is10576 Arden Rd., Amarillo, TX 79119. Arden Road is currently closed on Loop 335, so if you are coming from the south, you will arrive via Loop 335 and the turnaround at Hillside Rd. If you are coming from the north, it should be a straight shot from your GPS settings. Buses will park in the easternmost parking lot in front of the gym/auditorium entrance. If you are traveling by personal or school vehicle, you may park in the teacher parking lot on the south side of the building (southwest of the gym/auditorium parking lot). Even though entrance 1 is the primary entrance to our school, students/coaches who are riding the bus may enter through the auditorium doors and head to the cafeteria, which will be student-holding.

EVENTS OFFERED:

IEs:

Poetry & Prose (Reader’s choice), HI, DI, POI, OO, INFO, FX, DX, Impromptu, DUO, and DUET

DEBATE:

Lincoln Douglas (NSDA January/February Resolution):Resolved: The United States ought to become party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and/or the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Cross-examination: Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.

Congress will utilize the Spring TFA docket:

Prelims: #s1-5 (Order 4, 1, 2, 3, 5)

Finals: #s6-10

DEADLINES:

All entries are due by Monday, January 13 at 7:00 PM. We will accept drops unpenalized until Wednesday, January at 7:00 PM.

As a host, we aim to provide the required number of judges needed for each round. However, in order to provide a qualified judging pool, we ask that all coaches be willing to judge when and if necessary. Also, we would appreciate any additional names of judges that you can provide. Every effort will be made to panel judges in semis, but there are no guarantees. We will panel the finals of all TFA events and will attempt to panel all others as well. Judges will not disclose in any rounds so we can run on time. We will use paper ballots for this tournament. Extemp draw will be in the auditorium.

RULES:

Even though our school is nearly three years old, we still have a "no food/drink" policy in the classrooms, auditorium, or collaboration spaces. The only exceptions are for judges who might not have had a lunch break or if students have their own personal cup with a lid such as a "Stanley," "Owala," "Hydro Flask," etc. Other than those exceptions, all food and drink must remain in the cafeteria.

A note about collaboration spaces: I am not opposed to students being in those spaces, but they will be marked as "Quiet Zones" so as not to disturb rounds that may be going on in classrooms. If students need to practice speeches/performances, there are several places that would be more appropriate for this, such as the hallway in front of the gyms (students may not enter the gyms) or the CTE hallway (students may not enter CTE classrooms). Another thing to keep in mind is that we do have cameras everywhere, so stress to your students to be on their best behavior, clean up after themselves, and respect the spaces.

In accordance with current TFA rules, West Plains students may be entered in events at this tournament and, if entered, will be eligible to compete in elimination rounds.

*TFA rules will be in effect for all TFA events. Questions about TFA rules can be answered by going to the TFA website

Notice: No final ballots or awards will be delivered to schools. You must attend to receive awards unless you must leave early because of an emergency or inclement weather.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, 18 January 2025

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Registration

8:30 AM - DX Extemp Draw (RD 1)

9:00 AM Round 1 Debate / Round 1 Pattern A

9:00 AM Congressional Debate

10:15 AM FX Extemp Draw (RD 1)

10:45 AM Round 2 Debate / Round 1 Pattern B

NOON DX Extemp Draw (RD 2)

12:30 PM Round 3 Debate / Round 2 Pattern A

1:30 PM Congressional Debate Finals

1:45 PM FX Extemp Draw (RD 2)

2:15 PM Debate Out Round 1 / Round 2 Pattern B

3:30 PM DX Extemp Draw (Finals)

4:00 PM Debate Out Round 2 / Finals Pattern A

5:30 PM FX Extemp Draw (Finals)

6:00 PM Debate Out Round 3 / Finals Pattern B

Pattern A: HI, DX, OO, POE, Duet, Impromptu

Pattern B: DI, FX, INFO, PRO, Duo, POI

***Pattern A may enter 2 events

***Pattern B may enter 2 events

***Cross-entering is at the student's own risk. Extempers must speak in the assigned order. Failure to do so will result in being ranked last in the round.

*Debate may not cross-enter in any pattern

Brackets will be broken in debate.

We will speed up the schedule if possible, so PAY ATTENTION TO POSTINGS!!!

Individual Events $15.00

Duet Acting & Duo $15.00

Congress $15.00

LD Debate $20.00

CX Debate $25.00

Please help us avoid last-minute drops. Please email or call in drops ahead of time so we can correct postings before they go up.

The top three schools will be honored for the overall sweepstakes. The following is the sweepstakes formula:

IE, DUO, DUET, Congress:

1st - 12 points

2nd - 10 points

3rd - 8 points

4th - 6 points

5th-8th - 4 points

Debate:

12 -1st place

10 - 2nd place

8 - Semis

We look forward to seeing you at West Plains!

Courtney Plotts

courtney.plotts@canyonisd.net

(806) 654-4764 (Plotts's Cell Phone)