December 2024
I hope everyone enjoyed their November holidays! We had a sweet friendsgiving in my classroom before the break and I loved getting to see everyone interacting.
November Student Success Spotlight!
We competed at the Westwood Bowl in November!
Sam Martin and Nick Sharma qualified for TFA State in Public Forum debate!
Sam was also the top speaker in PF!
Gabi Avramova placed 4th in congress!
Gabi was also an international extemp finalist!
Naomi Bolduc advanced to finals of novice extemp!
Volunteer Opportunity: Judging!
We are short on judges for the Dripping Springs tournament.
I need one more speech/extemp judge, two congress judges, and a public forum debate judge!
Parent volunteers usually just judge speech prelims*, which would start at 8 am and be done by 3 pm on Saturday, December 14th! If you need to leave earlier than that, I am friends with the coach at Dripping Springs and could get you excused. This is our last parent volunteer opportunity of the semester and would be a great way to see some speech and debate in person, while also helping the team!
(*If you judge PF or congress, your start/end times will be slightly different)
I will hold an in-person judge training after school on Wednesday, December 4th at 6 pm at Anderson in my classroom.
I will also host a virtual judge training on Monday, December 9th at 6 pm on Google Meet.
Even if you aren't able to judge at Dripping Springs, you're welcome to attend the training!
RSVP to judge training here!
Sign Up to Volunteer at Dripping Springs here!
December Events
The Longhorn Classic: December 6-8th.
Thank you to our parents who volunteered to chaperone and judge!
The Dripping Springs Tiger Tussle: December 13-14th.
We will be taking a bus to this tournament! Registration will close on Blend on Friday, December 6th!
Spring Preview!
Novices are expected to compete at 3 tournaments over the course of the school year. In the spring, there are two competitions open to them:
Vista Ridge, January 17-18
Westlake, February 7-8
Travel:
We are doing the vast majority of our overnight travel in the spring.
January 23-27: Emory
Everyone attending Emory has already been entered (we have to apply to compete at this tournament). More information will be sent out soon with costs, hotel info, and flights!
February 14-18: Berkeley
Limited entry based on competitive success, dedication to the team, and overall student count.
Varsity students wanting to attend should register on Blend before we leave for winter break. We must pay for entries to be let off the waitlist and the sooner we pay, the better!
March 5-9: Texas Forensic Association State Tournament
This will be open to qualifiers only.
The tournament is at Prairie View A&M University outside of Houston.
Note: AISD spring break was moved back by a week so we will have a full week of school after we return from TFA State.
April 25-29: Tournament of Champions
Qualifiers only!
The TOC takes place at the University of Kentucky.
June: Nationals
Qualifiers only!
A week in Des Moines, Iowa
Our merch has arrived! Students will be able to pick it up tomorrow. You must have paid for merch before taking it home! Students should bring cash/check or proof of digital payment tomorrow to get their merch.
I have updated this spreadsheet with who has paid for merch as of Monday, December 2nd.
Merch Payment Tracker
I hope you all enjoy your December!
If you want to make a gift to the debate team, any financial donation to the booster club will help us provide scholarships for spring travel, mitigate the costs of travel for everyone, pay for judges and entry fees at local and out of state competitions, and more!
You can also support the team by supporting my classroom. My amazon classroom wishlist can be found here:
Thank you for all the support you've shown me and the team this semester!
Coach El
el.contreras@austinisd.org