Christian Communicators of Tennessee

TENNESSEE STATESMAN'S DEBATE TOURNAMENT

MARCH 22-23

FREE WILL BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE

TENNESSEE STATE CAPITOL SENATE CHAMBER

It's that time again! Rally Day is rapidly approaching, and plans are in full swing for the annual Student Congress tournament.  Please read the information below and fill out the registration page that follows.  It is important to sign up early for this event since we are expecting more students this year than in previous years.  We want to make sure that space is available for each student who is interested.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BILLS FOR RALLY DAY

Registration Deadline

Registration for this tournament is a two step process.  The first step is an email to Peggy Brisbon at peggybteach@tds.net.  Include your family name and the names of the students wishing to participate.  Once you have done this, send your completed paper registration form and check made out to CCT to Mrs. Karen Rentschler at 4051 Buffalo Rd. Hohenwald, TN 38462. Mark your envelope  CCT Rally Day. Your registration form and check must be received by Mrs. Rentschler by March 1.  You are not registered until both your form and check have been received. Space is on a first come, first served basis.  No participants will be accepted after March 1, but registration may close earlier if all spaces are filled. 

Schedule – Monday, March 22 – Free Will Baptist Bible College

• 7:30                        Orientation for all competitors
• 8:00-11:15                       Round One
• 11:15-12:30                     Lunch
• 12:30-3:30                       Round Two
• 3:30-4:00                         Clean-up

Tuesday, March 23 – War Memorial Auditorium and Senate Chamber

Final round announcements will be made during the Rally Day program which will take place in the War Memorial Auditorium beginning at 8:45 am and concluding at 11:30 am.  All students must check in before the Rally Day program starts in order to be considered for the final round.  The final round announcement will be made during the program.  The final round will take place in the Senate Chamber beginning at 12:30 and concluding at 4:00 pm.  The Senate Chamber can seat thirty-three Senators, so thirty- three students will advance to the final round from the two preliminary rounds on Monday at Freewill Baptist Bible College.

PLEASE NOTE:  

 If you do not have a student participating as a Senator in this tournament, we invite you to come over to the Senate Chamber and observe all or a portion of the final round of the Davy Crockett Statesman's Debate Competition from the upstairs gallery of the Senate Chamber.  You may feel free to come and go as you like, but please do so quietly.

Cost

The cost of the tournament is $25.00 per student, with a family maximum of $60.00.

Dress Code

Tournament attire is required for this event.  Gentlemen should wear suits or dress pants with sports jacket and tie.  Young ladies may wear suits, dresses, or dress pants.  Skirts should fall below the knee.  The spirit of the dress code is modesty.  Please refrain from outfits that are form fitting or low-cut in the front or back.  If you have questions about the dress code, please ask your parent or club leader.

Food

Competitors and their families can bring lunch to the college on Monday, or they can buy lunch for a nominal fee.  If you wish to buy lunch, you must notify Karen Rentschler at 7arrows@controlreps.com by March 10.  Ideally, each family should  list the number of adults and children who would like purchase lunch in the cafeteria on their registration form.  Each family will pay for their lunch at the cafeteria, but the college needs to know the number of people wishing to eat in order to make sure that enough food is prepared. The cost of a cafeteria lunch is $5.00 per adult and $2.50 per child.  Anyone 12 years old and older is considered an adult. Packed lunches may be eaten on the grounds outside or in the cafeteria.  Hospitality will be offered only to those individuals who judge a round on Monday.  Packing lunch is preferred for Tuesday since there is often not a large amount of time between the end of the Rally Day program and the beginning of the final round.

Judging

Results from the first two rounds on Monday will be tabulated and used to determine the top three speakers in each house.  Judges for the final round in the Senate chamber will determine the top five speakers for that round only. 

Presiding Officers

Each session of Congress will be led by a student Presiding Officer.  These individuals will be competing against each other in order to advance to the final round in the Senate chamber.  The final round Presiding Officer will announced during the Rally Day program.

Bills

The bills for this tournament have been chosen and placed on CCT's website (www.cctennessee.org/legislation).  Please print them from the website and use them to research and prepare for the tournament.  Each student will be given a binder at the tournament that contains a clean copy of the bills.  You may bring your research and notes into the chamber with you. 

Ball

The tournament staff is pleased to offer all participating families and judges the opportunity to attend a ball after the tournament.  The cost is $5.00 per person.  We will employ a dance caller who will lead the guests in family-friendly English Country dances.  Gentlemen should plan to wear suits (tournament attire is fine).  Ladies may wear tournament attire or change into a formal gown.  Modesty is important and will be required.  Please refrain from wearing any clothing that shows the legs above the knee or is cut low in the front or back. At the end of the final round, please make your way to McKendree United Methodist Church.  The dance will last until 9:00 pm.

Junior Congress

One session of Congress for junior level students (ages 9-12) will be offered on Tuesday during the final round for the senior students.  The round will take place in the Capitol at a location yet to be determined.  The cost of this event is $5.00 per student.  Bills for the junior level students should be submitted to studentcongress09@gmail.com by March 1.  They will be emailed to all junior participants by March 5.  The session will be one and one half hours long.

Host Housing

Limited host housing will be made available for those traveling from outside of Nashville.  If you wish to request housing, please email Peggy Brisbon at peggybteach@tds.net.  You need to include your name, the number of children and adults needing accommodation, the gender of each of the children, the number of nights you will be staying,allergies, and whether or not any members of your family can sleep on the floor.  You will be contacted by the host family to make specific arrangements for your arrival. 

Directions

Please use the following link to get information about the Capitol and the area surrounding it:

http://www.capitol.tn.gov/about/capitolvisit.html

This is the website for Freewill Baptist Bible College:

www.fwbbc.edu

An Invitation

We would like to invite you to join us in this year’s student congress tournament.  Whether it’s your first year or fifth year, congress is an event worth the effort.   Outlined below are the key points of participation in the two day tournament associated with Rally Day.   

Overview of Student Congress

Student Congress is a fun and challenging opportunity to develop debate skills in a large group setting. The National Forensics League, NFL, defines Student Congress in just that way, an individual debate in a large group setting.  It is an activity for both new and experienced debaters.  New debaters can use it to "get their feet wet" in a non-threatening setting.   Experienced students can use it to hone their skills of presenting evidence in a concise, yet persuasive way.

In Student Congress, students are legislators in a mock Congress setting where they will acquire a basic knowledge of parliamentary procedure, the standard protocol of legislative bodies. This event also allows students to develop their knowledge of and ability in speaking, logic and presentation skills.  It also helps students become well versed in current events.

Preparation for a Congress Session

Thirty bills have been selected for debate at the congress sessions.  These bills will be distributed for use in the morning, afternoon, and final sessions.   Ten bills will be pre-selected for each session.   To debate and discuss these bills you will need to review them, determine your position on the issues involved, study the issues, and then find, prepare and bring evidence to support your position.   It is helpful to gather evidence on both sides of an issue presented in a bill so you can have the opportunity to speak regarding bills that are heavily supported on the opposite side of the issue.

General Outline of a Congress Session

Student senators and presiding officers are divided up into different houses (senate chambers) that are designated by colors (e.g. the red house, the blue house, etc.).  Senators and presiding officers sit in pre-assigned seats. 

Preliminary activities are made which including the oath of office, announcements, roll call, consideration of the calendar, etc.

Following these activities debate begins.  When a bill or resolution comes up in the congress session for debate, any senator may sponsor the bill by making an authorship speech at the podium to his fellow senators.   A senator does this at the "well".   This speech may be followed up with questions from the senators.   Other senators may then speak in opposition to the bill and questions may follow.  This alternating pattern of speaking for and against a bill continues as long as the majority of the senators choose to have it continue.  The senators have the choice of which bills/resolutions from among the ten in each session that they would prefer to debate.   One student acts as a clerk keeping track of all speeches at the well, questions, motions and amendments.   Another student will act as the presiding officer, maintaining order via parliamentary procedure.  

Parliamentary Procedure

Students can gain an understanding of parliamentary procedure, which are the operative rules for governing legislative bodies by studying the list of the most frequently used parliamentary motions from the National Forensic League web site or reading Robert’s Rules of Order (full length or revised summary), available at bookstores.  It is the most widely used reference on parliamentary procedures.

The National Forensics League web site alsoprovides informative tutorials for those participating in this event. Here are the links:

·       Student Congress Terminology : http://www.congressionaldebate.org/tutorials/congress-terminology

·       Procedure for the Debate: http://www.congressionaldebate.org/tutorials/procedure-for-debate

Many students learn by participating in a session and observing other student senators.

Timing

Sponsorship speeches – 3 minutes maximum

Subsequent speeches for or against a bill/resolution – 2 minutes maximum

Question period – 1 minute + unused speech time (unless changed by a motion)

All speeches will be self-timed by the senators.   See self-timing protocol sheet.

Scoring

Student senators are judged by a panel of judges who observe the their actions for the entire round.   Each time a senator goes to the well they are rated on three parameters during the time spent at the well (including both a speech and responses to questions)

1) delivery of the speech,

2) knowledge of the subject,

3) use of evidence and logic 

Sample ballots are attached for Senators and Presiding Officers. 

These ratings contribute to results of a senator’s performance in a session.   The results determine a senator’s ranking.   The final ranking is based on the average of three measures.

1) total effort made at the well  

2) quality of the effort spent at the well

3) overall performance in the session, including motions, questions asked of senators at the well, and professionalism

The goal of this criteria is to allow a student senator who goes to the well a small number of times but giving high quality speeches and answers, demonstrating a knowledge of parliamentary procedure and a professional demeanor to score as high as an active senator who goes to the well a greater number of times with lesser quality speeches/answers (similar parl. proc. and professionalism).  

Presiding Officers are judged by a panel of judges that rotate from room to room throughout a congress session.   Each judge is scheduled to observe each presiding officer for 40 minutes per session.   The officers are rated on these parameters

1)    order of the room’s proceedings

2)    control of the session

3)    knowledge of parliamentary procedure

4)    handling of disputes

Copies of the ballots for both senators and presiding officers can be found on the CCT website.

Judges

All judges for the preliminary sessions will be from the local community.    The final round will be judged by notable individuals from around the state.   These may include current legislators, regional homeschool directors, and civic organization leaders. 

The bills

The bills were generated by students in clubs practicing student congress, prior to the tournament.   The bills were reviewed by a committee.   The resulting lists reflect the top bills selected based on their assessment of educational value, academic debate value, and constitutionality.

The final session in the Senate Chamber

The handling of the final session in the senate chamber is structured differently than the two preliminary sessions.   First, the number of senators that will be selected to advance into this session is significantly larger than the number of senators in a room in the preliminary sessions.   This creates difficulty with interaction between the senators and in turn can impede the motions of the proceedings and opportunities to speak at the well.   Second, the Final Round in the State Senate chamber is a session that is a display to our notable panel of judges and a large audience including observers from across the state.   To handle these changes in the dynamics of this session, all advancing senators must attend a subcommittee meeting prior to the start of the session.  During this meeting the bills on the calendar will be discussed to predetermine motions, calendar adjustments, and speaker preferences in order to limit motions made during the final session, affording every senator at least one opportunity at the well.    

Awards  

It is an honor and a privilege to earn a seat in the State Senate Chamber.    This privilege is an award in itself.  The announcement of these senators will be made during the morning program of Rally Day in the War Memorial auditorium.   These students will receive certificates recognizing this achievement.  One presiding officer will be selected to preside over the final session of congress.   The non-selected officers will be given seats in the final senate chamber to act as senators.

The top three students from each senate house will be recognized and given awards.  The top five students within the final senate session will also be recognized and given awards.  One student from each senate house will be recognized and given an award for the Student’s Choice award – an award for Christ-like character and excellence.  These awards will be presented at an award ceremony following the final senate session in the state senate chamber.   

New top students senators will qualify for the Student Congress Hall of Fame and are eligible to participate in a SCHF session of student congress held in May of this year.   This session will include past SCHF students, including those who have graduated.  SCHF students will be invited back to participate every year.  The final presiding officer will qualify for SCHF.  The bills/resolutions used at this session will not be announced prior to the session.   Each SCHF student will write and bring a bill/resolution of their choice to the session to form the calendar.    Scoring is the same with additional points given if a senator’s bill is debated and passed.  

Additional students not qualifying for SCHF will be randomly selected to attend this year’s SCHF session to participate as swing voters only.   Swing voter participation includes asking questions, making motions, and voting.   A presiding officer will be invited to preside over the SCHF session from the non-final presiding officers.  

Middle Tennessee Student Congress Coaching Opportunities

Two up-coming Middle Tennessee Student Congress coaching opportunities are planned.   On Monday, February, 22^nd from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., a practice congress session will be held.   Regular debate attire is required.  It is hosted by the Intrepid Debate Group.  It will be held at the regular meeting place of the Intrepid Debate Group, Grace Christian Assembly, http://www.salvationbygrace.org/, 904 Hazelwood Drive in Smyrna, TN.   All are welcome.  Reservations are necessary.  Please email reservation requests to studentcongress09@gmail.com

The second Middle Tennessee Student Congress coaching opportunity will take place at the Grace Church in Franklin, Tenn. from 3:00 - 4:00 pm.   It is hosted by the Ambassador Debate Group.  Non debate attire is permitted.   A portion of a  congress session will be held at this time.  All are welcome.

East Tennessee Practice Opportunity

A shortened congress session will be held as part of the E.Tenn Classic tournament in Maryville, Tn.  Mar. 12, Friday, 2010.   See the CCT website for registration.  

Questions

If you have any questions please call Cathy Haffner at 615-904-6885 or Peggy Brisbon at 615-773-1708, Karen Rentschler at 931-796-0557 or respond to this email.

More Details to come as they are available.

Attention!!!  Calling for Tennessee Homeschoolers to Enter the

Rally Day information from THEA website

Announcing Tennessee
Home Education Association’s
Capitol Hill Day, Featuring
Michael P. Farris

The THEA Capitol Hill Day is coming to your area March 23, 2010. This event will be held at the Tennessee Capitol, Nashville, TN.

HSLDA Co-founder and PHC Chancellor Michael P. Farris will attend to speak about parental rights.

His new speaking schedule and locations:

• 10 a.m.—“Parental Rights: Now or Never!” (War Memorial Auditorium, 7th and Union)
• 1:30 p.m.—“Parental Rights: Problem?” (McKendree Methodist Church, 523 Church Street)
• 3 p.m.—“Parental Rights or Political Issues?” (McKendree Methodist Church, 523 Church Street)

For more information about the THEA Capitol Hill Day, please contact THEA at President@TNHEA.org or visit them online.

Where:  Fairview United Methodist Church, Maryville, TN

When:  March 12-13th 2010