November 2024
Coach El's November Newsletter
Happy Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, and Happy Diwali!
We’re moving towards the end of the semester quickly and I have some important information to share with you as the fall wraps up.
Important Links
Debate Team Website
Instagram
Facebook Family Group
New: Our team Givebutter! Our fundraising goal is $30,000 and we've already hit 5%. Please share the link on your social media, with your family and friends, your co-workers, communities, and organizations!
Team Link here
Coach Contreras' link here
Student Success Spotlight!
JW Patterson
Nate and Luke championed the JW Patterson Policy Tournament! They earned their second TOC bid and finished their qualification to the Tournament of Champions! Congratulations to Nate and Luke!
Hays Hawkoween
These students advanced to the semifinals of their event:
Schaefer, US Extemp
Salome, US Extemp
Lauchly, US Extemp
CJ, Novice Extemp
Patrik, Novice Extemp
Valeria, Novice Extemp
Alexis, Program of Oral Interpretation
Parker and Rosemary, Public Forum
These students were finalists:
Colin, Congress
Rebecca, Congress
Em, Novice Congress
Emmy, 6th place in Congress
Klein, 2nd place in Novice Congress
Audrey placed 1st in Original Oratory!
Congratulations to all competitors!!
And a HUGE thank you to all the parents who drove students to and from Hays High School on Saturday!! We literally would be nowhere without you!
Speech and Debate team merch!
Merch Order Form
One of our students designed these shirts and I love them!
Please only have one person in your family fill out this form (ie: parent OR student). Parents are more than welcome to order t-shirts or sweatshirts as well!
The form is editable so if you change your mind and want to add a shirt or sweatshirt to your order, you can do so before Friday, November 8th!
Sweatshirts will be $30, long-sleeve shirts will be $20, and short-sleeve shirts will be $15!
I sent this form out on Blend already, here it is again: Merch Order Form
After School Practices
Our after-school practices are open to all students, novice and varsity alike! They are especially great for novice students wanting to compete in a speech and debate event that we haven't covered yet in class.
Please continue encouraging your students, particularly your first-year debater, to attend after-school or lunch practices! At these practices, we cover the basics of the event and prepare for competition. They also get the chance to connect with varsity team members and officers.
After-school practices are extra helpful the week before a competition! Students can also come in during lunch any day to learn more about an event, practice a skill, or prepare for a tournament.
The after-school practice schedule can be found here.
Service Opportunity and Team Bonding!
On Wednesday, November 20th we will have a team bonding and service opportunity in my classroom at school!
We'll be making friendship bracelets to donate to the Austin Center for Child Protection, a children's advocacy organization that provides support services to children in the Austin area. One of my good friends, former Hendrickson Coach Kirsten Nash, works for this amazing organization and will provide the friendship bracelet materials. Snacks will also be provided!
The RSVP google form will be posted on Blend next week.
Fall Semester tournaments and reminders!
As a reminder, novices (1st year) team members are expected to compete three times over the course of the year!
Varsity members are expected to compete five times over the year! Varsity members are also required to cross-enter (compete in a different event) twice during the year.
November Tournaments
Westwood: 11/8-9
Westwood is open to all students, including novices! This tournament is virtual on Friday evening. Students will be excused from their 8th periods to come to the Anderson library to compete with the team.
Saturday, the competition will be in-person at Westwood High School.
Students can sign up on Blend until Monday, November 4th. If you're able to drive carpool on Saturday, please email me or fill out the google form I'll send out Monday evening!
December Tournaments
Longhorn Classic: 12/6-8
The University of Texas tournament will have a limited entry this year. I am not available to take students to UT campus but still want our team to compete.
Only varsity public forum, Lincoln Douglas, policy, and congressional debaters who are seeking Tournament of Champions bids will be entered at this tournament.
Additionally, I will need some parent volunteers to chaperone at the tournament and help get kids to and from campus.
Students will be able to apply to compete on Blend starting next week. I will release the competition list on November 11th.
Tiger Tussle: 12/13-14
The Dripping Springs High School Tournament will be open to everyone on the team!
Friday night will be online and students will be able to compete either from their homes or from the Anderson campus. Saturday will be in-person at Dripping Springs.
My high school coach is the head coach at Dripping and it's one of my favorite tournaments!
Something else to note for December is we have to apply for students to compete at the Emory tournament in January (1/24-27) by December 2nd so the Emory registration form with cost estimates will be out in early November! Only varsity members will be able to attend this out-of-state competitions.
That's all from me for now- thanks for reading, your kind words of support, volunteering to drive our carpool, and for your amazing students!
Please reach out with questions, concerns, ideas, and comments.
Peace, love, and debate,
Coach El Contreras
el.contreras@austinisd.org