Hey everybody!

It’s that time of the year again to get ready for school and of course, DEBATE!

For those of you who haven’t heard, we should all give last years Co-President, Priyang Shah our congratulations for being Myers Parks FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPION EVER!!! Priyang was the National Champion in Congressional Debate and was also the Best Presiding Officer in his Finals Chamber! Congratulations to Priyang!

There is a small addition to the site this year, coming soon under the ‘Media’ tab there will be multiple “How-To” Guides on how to do specific events. So if you are ever interested in trying a new event then you have access to a simple guide on how to get started!

Wake Forest Sign-Ups are now also up at the ‘Tournament Signup’ tab! Information Sheets/Permission Forms will be coming out soon.

That’s all for now!
Let’s have a great school year and debate season!

~Vijay S.

Ladies and gentlemen… your teams for the 2011 NCFL and NFL National Tournaments!

NCFL NATIONALS – May 27-30, Washington, DC

Derrick Flakoll – Extemp Speaking

Patrick Withrow – Extemp Speaking

Isabel Williams – Extemp Speaking

Jay Merritt – Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lisa Fan – Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Vijay Sadanani – Lincon-Douglas Debate

Mike Griggs – Dramatic Performance

Porter Nenon and Priyang Shah – Public Forum Debate

NFL NATIONALS – June 6-12, Dallas, TX

Mike Griggs and Ashley Thomas – Duo Interpretation

Priyang Shah – Student Congress

Patrick Withrow – Domestic Extemp

Erin Larsen and Sara Lee – Public Forum Debate

Bernadine Pierre – Humorous Interpretation

On February 26, fifteen Myers Park students traveled to Chase High School in Forest City to compete in the Trojan Invitational. Despite having only fifteen contestants, the team took SECOND place at the tournament, beating rival team Marvin Ridge. Here are the students who placed in their respective events:

Patrick Withrow – CHAMPION, SPAR Debate

Lane Fagan – 2nd Place, Original Oratory

Isabel Williams – 2nd Place, Extemporaneous Speaking

Daniel Guerrero – 2nd Place, Lincoln-douglas Debate

Lane Fagan – 3rd Place, SPAR Debate

Hannah Wang – 4th Place, Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Amit Jain and Tarini Paleru – 5th Place, Public Forum Debate

Also, congratulations to Priyang Shah, who won 1st place in House 1 at the Carolina West District Congress, thereby qualifying to the NFL National Tournament in Dallas this June. It’s official, Myers Park will be represented at Nationals, and hopefully many more qualifiers will follow Priyang at the district tournament in a few weeks.

Anyone interested in attending CFL Quals at Phillip O. Berry Academy this Saturday need to sign up RIGHT NOW on the tournament signup page.

On February 5, 33 MP students travelled to Southside High School in Greenville, SC for the last showdown of the season between North and South Carolina. With an incredible burst of team spirit, NC was finally victorious as Myers Park took home the coveted FIRST PLACE Southside “Tiger Trophy”. The mustangs were victorious over previous champions Riverside HS by a considerable margin of 20 points, as they accumulated a grand total of 86 for the tournament. Here’s everyone who placed, in their respective events:

Jason Fuller & Robert Havelka – CHAMPIONS, Public Forum Debate

Taruni Paleru & Jake Lampke – 2nd Place, Public Forum Debate

Mike Griggs & Ashley Thomas – 2nd Place, Duo Interpretation

Isabel Williams – 2nd Place, Impromptu Speaking

Bernadine Pierre and Meghan Dorn – 2nd Place, Extemp Duo

Ketan Chokshi – 2nd Place, Student Congress

Hannah Wang – 2nd Place, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lane Fagan and Jake Raynor – 3rd Place, Extemp Duo

Jake Raynor – 3rd Place, Radio Speaking

Patrick Withrow – 4th Place, Extemporaneous Speaking

Patrick Withrow – 4th Place, Impromptu Speaking

Jay Merritt – 4th Place, Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Isabel Williams- 5th Place, Extemporaneous Speaking

Roma Sonik – 5th Place, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Mike Griggs – 7th Place, Humorous Interpretation

Mike Griggs – 8th Place, Oral Interpretation

Sibley Fillette – 9th Place, Oral Interpretation

One week after the Southside Invitational, the Public Forum team of Porter Nenon and Lauren Wiggins travelled to the Duke University Blue Devil Classic to compete against a challenging field of 20 experienced PF teams. They made it all the way to the semifinal round before falling to NCSSM, so please congratulate them on this accomplishment!

This weekend 28 MP debaters will travel to Boston for the Harvard National Tournament… check back for daily updates as the weekend goes on!

This weekend, 16 MP students travelled to Atlanta to compete in the Emory University speech and debate tournament, one of the most prestigious in the nation. Deena Cronson and Charlie Talmadge made double-octafinals in Public Forum, Ashley Thomas and Mike Griggs made quarterfinals in Duo Interp, and Mike Griggs also made quarters in Humorous Interp! Be sure to congratulate them when they return to school.

Also experiencing success in the Carolinas was Ben Denton (Pinecrest), Sarah Vansickle (Marvin Ridge), Nathaniel Donahue (Durham Academy), James Thompson, Jordan Branham, Francine Tamakloe, and Paavan Gami (Southside), and Richard Merlino, Logan Coffey, Rachel Jones, Devon Scott, Brandi White, and Wilson Fields! (Hillcrest) Probably missed a few, but still, congrats to everyone for representing the Carolinas so well!

MP’s next tournament is SOUTHSIDE, on February 5. Any students interested in going need to sign up by Tuesday night on the tournament signup page.

Hello, all!

Hope everyone had an awesome break, and I hope everyone is ready to get back into the swing of things with Laird Lewis 2011!!

IF YOU ARE AN AMBASSADOR OR CAFETERIA WORKER for Laird Lewis (In other words, you signed up on Mr. West’s board): You are REQUIRED to attend ONE of two meetings this week: They are Wednesday and Thursday, right after school in the small cafeteria. Shouldn’t last longer than 3:30. (This is also where you’ll get your free tshirt!)

IF YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SPECIFIC DUTY: Chances are, you need to be trained. If you do, I’ll contact you individually over the next few days.

IF YOU SIGNED UP FOR A NEW (2011) HOODIE, they will be available in Mr. West’s room on Monday… be sure to bring your $20! Officers and people who pre-ordered have priority… once those have been distributed we will have a few extras, but not many. We might order an extra shipment if demand is high enough.

Looking forward to seeing y’all again!

~Mike G

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