On November 13, about 26 students travelled to Mauldin High School in Greenville for a fantastically fun Glee/Harry Potter themed tournament! Here’s who placed, in their respective events:

Mike Griggs/Ashley Thomas – CHAMPIONS, Duo Interpretation*

Porter Nenon/Priyang Shah – CHAMPIONS, Public Forum Debate*

*Both of our champion teams had perfect records!!!

Mike Griggs – 2nd Place, Oral Interpretation

Betsy Marshall/Erin Larsen – 2nd Place, Public Forum Debate

Isabel Williams – 4th Place, Extemp Speaking

Daniel Guerrero – 4th Place, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lisa Fan – 4th Place, Varsity Loncoln-Douglas Debate

Ben Beaumont – 4th Place, Congress Senate

Beth Kingaby/Susanna Booth – 6th Place, Impromptu Duet Acting

Mackie Raymond – 7th Place, Novice Reading

Michael Strothers – 7th Place, Extemp Speaking

Jake Lampke – 7th Place, Congress House

Good luck to the 28 people competing at the Asheville HS Cougar Classic this weekend!

ALSO: Two tournaments toward the end of the year now have official locations! As in past years our district tournament is run jointly with South Carolina’s district tournament… This year is South Carolina’s year to host the tournaments and the location is… RIVERSIDE HS, in Greenville. The district tournament is March 18-19, 2011, and we are allowed to take our top four competitors in each event.

And also, the Tarheel Forensic League State Championship will be at PINECREST HS in Southern Pines. TFL States will be on April 8-9, and we are UNLIMITED in the number of people we can take, so mark your calendars now!

~Mike G

Signups are officially online for the GMU Patriot Games! This INCREDIBLE tournament on December 3-6 is in Fairfax, VA (Just outside DC!) and offers some of the best competition you will see before Harvard! Speech competitors can enter in up to SIX events, but I don’t recommend it if it’s your first year. See Mr. West if you’re planning on entering in more than two events. Debate events are single-entry only, as always. Cost will be about $300, depending on how many people sign up. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT SIGN UP, THE LESS EXPENSIVE IT WILL BE. So seriously, get your name on the list NOW, not only so we can get an official price ASAP, but also so we can get our registration in before GMU’s November 17 deadline! DON’T PROCRASTINATE ON THIS ONE PEOPLE!!!
Much love,
~Mike G

This just in: the National Forensic League has released the December Public Forum Topic, and it is as follows:
Resolved: Cyberbullying should be a criminal offense.
Legislation for Mauldin should be posted by Wednesday on the “topics and legislation” page. Also, signups for the Asheville HS Cougar Classic (November 20) and the GMU Patriot Games (December 3-6) will be up soon, so keep your eyes open for that!
~Mike G

On October 23, 34 students travelled to Marvin Ridge High school in Waxhaw to compete in the Maverick Invitational. Here are the students who placed in their respective events:

Charlie Talmadge and Deena Cronson – 2nd Place, Public Forum Debate

Derrick Flakoll – 2nd Place, Impromptu Speaking

Meghan Dorn and Beth Kingaby – 2nd Place, Impromptu Duet Acting

Derrick Flakoll – 3rd Place Extemp Speaking

Claire Browder – 3rd Place, Novice Original Oratory

Daisy Torres – 3rd Place, Novice Reading

Jay Merritt – 5th Place, Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Bernadine Pierre and Meghan Dorn – 5th Place, Duo Interpretation

Daniel Guerrero – 6th Place, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Erin Larsen and Dillon Rusgo – 6th Place, Novice Public Forum Debate

Tyler Cheek and Apoorva Thatavarty – 7th Place, Novice Public Forum Debate

Jamie McGhee – 7th Place, Oral Interpretation

Michael Ding – 8th Place, Novice Student Congress

Beth Kingaby – 8th Place, Novice Reading

4th Place Overall, out of 28 Schools

And now, an important announcement:

Bad news: The Jack Britt Debate Team has CANCELLED their November 13 tournament.

Good News: Mauldin High School is hosting a tournament on that same day, which we have decided to attend instead! Mauldin is in Greenville, SC, which is a lot closer and more convenient than Fayetteville. Mauldin offers all the same events as Jack Britt, with ONE exception: Instead of Spontaneous Argument (SPAR) Debate, they offer Impromptu Duet Acting (IDA). It’s a VERY fun event, and I would encourage anyone to try it out! Contact me or Ashley T if you want to learn more.

So apart from that… NOTHING HAS CHANGED for that weekend except the location of the tournament we attend. However, if you already signed up for Jack Britt, you need to do so again for Mauldin. If you’re interested in attending this AWESOME tournament, get your name on the list NOW! You  can sign up HERE.

~Mike G