A tradition of
EXCELLENCE
Washburn Rural Forensics
FORENSICS
Forensics class concentrates on individual events.
These include Original Oratory, Informative
speaking, Foreign and Domestic Extemporaneous
speaking, Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation,
Oral Interpretation of Literature,
Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public
Forum Debate, Student Congress as well as Duo
Interp and One-Act Plays. Students will experience a variety of speaking
styles and will polish those styles through classroom practices and
performances. Students will have the opportunity to compete in the events at
tournaments throughout
GENERAL OBJECTIVES:
1.
To continue the objectives of speech communications class.
2.
To experience a variety of literature.
3.
To learn the importance of an audiences’ behavior.
4.
To work independently as well as in groups.
5.
To develop performance skills.
6.
To develop self-discipline in order to study independently, to work
within a group and to represent Washburn Rural High School in a competitive
atmosphere.
LETTERING:
To letter in Forensics, a member of the forensics
squad must meet one of the following criteria in its entirety.
1) place 1st, 2nd,3rd,
4th, 5th, or 6th three times
2) Be selected to be a member of the State
forensics
team or qualify for Nationals
3)
Be a thee or four
year senior who has shown outstanding commitment and dedication to the
forensics squad.
CLASSROOM POLICIES
COMMUNICATION
1. Communication is encouraged in the class; common
courtesy is demanded. When someone has the floor, s/he deserves everyone's
attention. Talking, rudeness, disturbing behavior, making faces, or ridicule
will not be tolerated. A student who does not observe this policy will be asked
to spend the remainder of the class time in an area away from the class (ie.
the principal's office), and repeated abuse risks the student being removed
from the class with no credit given.
PROMPTNESS
2. This class requires everyone to be on
time. Professionalism demands that you treat other performers/class-members as
you would wish to be treated. When you are late you steal other’s time,
resources, and right to learn. Occasional/rare tardiness is understandable.
However, abusive, chronic, habitual tardiness will result in your eligibility
to travel to weekend tournaments being severely hampered. It’s hard to compete
on Saturday mornings when you are sitting in detention from 8-11 AM. If you are tardy you will be asked to sing for your entrance
or if there are two or more of you then an appropriate IDA scene will be
required with class criticism of the performance and your tardy behavior
afterwards.
3. You will need to remain in your seat until
the bell rings and you have been dismissed. Don’t gather around
the door. It hurts my feelings and looks really tacky.
MATERIALS
4. Bring
your materials to class. You will not be allowed to go to your locker to get
said items. Occasional/rare forgetfulness is understandable. However, in case
of urgent need (your friends won't lend you any) I reserve the right to
publicly make fun of you so that you will not forget again and you will be
allowed to go to your locker.
ASSIGNMENTS
5. All class assignments should be turned in
with your name, class, hour, and date in the upper right hand corner. If these items are missing, I won’t be
responsible for making sure proper credit is given because I am not a mind
reader/prophet. If I was, I wouldn’t be teaching.
6. Written assignments should be neat, legible,
and clean. Formal written assignments should be typed, double-spaced, and in a
non-script font.
7. If you choose not to turn in an assignment
when it is called for, that work will be considered late. Late assignments will
be reduced by one letter grade for each day they are late. Additionally, I
reserve the right to refuse to accept any late assignments, with the exception
of those late assignments caused by illness.
COURTESY
8. This class needs everyone present in order to
be productive. Please don’t ask to be dismissed from class to take care of
personal business such as phone calls, going to lockers, restroom, etc. If it
is not urgent, and I reserve the right to define what is urgent, then don’t
ask.
9. The teacher’s desk, chair, computer, shelves,
etc, is not to be disturbed by students unless specific permission is given by
Mr. Owens. The same goes for school property (desks, tables, file cabinets,
walls, etc).
10. Cheating will result in a zero for the
assignment. Cheating includes copying or allowing someone to copy assignments
or tests.
11. Food and drink are not allowed in this
classroom unless in specific instances or for medical reasons. Look to school
policy for clarification.
12. School identified contraband is not allowed in
this class at any time. This includes tobacco of any kind or form, alcohol, and
controlled substances. Those suspected of possessing or having recently
partaken in the use of these substances will be referred to the campus
law-enforcement and administration. This is a ZERO-TOLERANCE ZONE.
ABSENCES
13. Make arrangements to receive assignments before
planned absences. Upon your return from any unplanned absence, you will be
responsible for asking for your assignments. I will not chase you down. You
will be given the same number of days you were absent to make up the
assignment. Test make-up is the same policy.
COMPETITION
POLICIES
REPRESENTING
WASHBURN RURAL
1. Representatives of Washburn Rural must
respect themselves, others, their school name and reputation, and property (in
that order). ANYTHING LESS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!!!! To ensure this, the
following rules will be strictly enforced:
A)
No possession or use of alcohol
B)
No possession or use of illegal drugs
C)
No possession or use of tobacco products in any form or type
D)
No violence; verbal, physical, or emotional
E)
No vandalism
F)
No sexual activity.( We will use my definition
of sexual activity, not the one proffered by Bill Clinton)
2. If the above rules are broken, parents will
be contacted immediately and asked to remove you to your home. The student will
not be allowed to compete for q period of 30 days, and may be prohibited from
competition for the remainder of the season unless accompanied by a parental
unit. Further action will be taken by the administration upon the student’s
return to school.
3. Appropriate, professional conduct is demanded
from all competitors at all times. Goofiness, general silliness, rudeness,
overt loudness, prankishness, and all other forms of childishness at
tournaments will NOT be tolerated. If I or an assistant coach has
to tell a competitor to “cool it,” or feels embarrassed in the company of the
squad, those responsible will have their competition opportunities severely
restricted. 1st infringement will result in the student not being
allowed to travel anywhere outside of
4. At tournament assemblies, students will act
in a dignified manner. You will not participate or initiate in childish “games”
that other squads may partake in. Clap for all finalists. Do not be
disrespectful. Following are some assembly traditions that will be implemented:
Tradition #1 – Focus all attention
on what is happening on stage at all times.
Tradition #2 – Applaud for all who
are recognized. Never yell or scream, or cheer.
Do not stand for 1st place finalists. (even
our own).
Tradition #3 – If you are called to the
stage, accept your award with grace and dignity. Do not gloat,
celebrate, or make concessionary displays. Simply accept your medal with a
smile and a handshake then stand to the right of the presenter and wait until
all of the awards for that event have been handed out, shake the hands of the
other finalists and then return to your seat.
There
will be plenty of opportunity to celebrate in the bus on the way home.
TRANSPORTATION
5. In most cases we will travel as a squad
to tournaments. There may be occasions as at in-town tournaments where you may
be able to provide your own transportation. However, the school always provides
transportation on days when school is in session and students will be required
to utilize it when it is provided. If you are of driving age and wish to meet
the squad at the in-town tournaments you must provide a signed note from your
parents for each tournament you are driving to. You may only drive to in-town
tournaments. Those would include Hayden, Topeka High, Topeka West,
FINANCES
6. Basic supplies such as paper, glue, scissors,
tape, file folders, pencils, pens, highlighters, etc.
must be furnished by students.
7. At tournaments, students will be responsible
for buying their own meals. The department budget will provide entry fees and
lodging accommodations for all in-state tournaments and some out of state
tournament expenses.
OVERNIGHT
TOURNAMENTS AND APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR
8. The coach/sponsor will announce when curfew
is. All students will honor that curfew.
9. During overnight tournaments, males and
females are not to be in a room together without the door open and the window
curtains open.
10. No sexual activity is allowed on all
tournaments. “Public displays of affection” are inappropriate at all times (in
the van/bus, at tournaments, at restaurants, at the hotel/motel) and will meet
with public squad-wide ridicule. Forensics is not a dating service. Find your
dates for prom somewhere else.
11. Any student who breaks curfew or the
male/female guidelines will be offered only limited future opportunities for
tournament competition and will be prohibited from participating in future
overnight tournaments.
DRESS
CODE
12. Females: You need to wear a dress, skirt suit
(preferred) or skirt/blouse with dress shoes. The only exception is if
you are doing an interp or a duet acting piece that
requires you to get on the floor at some point in the piece. Because you want
to be able to say that you achieved success by the merits of your work and
nothing else, skirt length needs to be at least as long as would be appropriate
in a church without raising the eyebrows of the over-65 set and your tops
should not be of the nature that cleavage could become an issue for your
competition to say or even think something you don’t want to be known for. You
should consider having your shoulders covered as well. Think lawyer/ business persyn type of presentation.
13. Males: You need to wear a dress shirt (preferably
long sleeved), a tie (mandatory), and dress shoes with dress socks. A suit or sports jacket is nice but not
necessary. Jeans, tennis shoes, sweaters, bowling shoes, white socks, $3 suits,
etc are not appropriate.
COMMITMENT
14.
Once you have been assigned a
tournament, it is mandatory that you attend that tournament. Backing out after
Wednesday for reasons other than illness or emergencies will result in limited
future travel. Being committed to attend tournaments for which you sign up and following
through by responsibly preparing for tournaments is demanded.
15. If a student does not show up for a tournament,
her/his grade will be lowered by one full letter grade. Repeated offenses will
result in prohibition from competition for 30 days as well as an additional
loss of a letter grade.
16. In the case of sickness or emergency, please
notify the coach or sponsor as soon as possible so that if changes need to be
made, we can have some advance warning. You may call us at home in the early
morning if necessary.
17.
During the week prior to a weekend
tournament the competitors must complete at least one practice round. Remember,
to have the rounds count
for your grade you must do a practice round for a coach or assistant coach the
week of the tournament. I fought this rule in the past but I believe that it is
a valuable technique and will be held to a strict interpretation and
implementation.
18. Tournament travel is a privilege, not a right.
The coach reserves the right to assign individuals and teams to specific
tournaments provided they are available to travel. Any student who does not
exhibit the behaviors necessary for a representative of
19. It is important that members of the Washburn
Rural forensics squad uphold a commitment to all of their academic pursuits.
Any student who does not maintain at least a “C” average or better will not be
scheduled to travel until that average improves.
20.
It is the student’s responsibility to
get all homework assignments and make up any tests s/he may miss because of
competition BEFORE s/he leaves for the tournament. The coach will support
faculty members in matters where the student has not arranged for her/his
absence in advance.
JUDGES
21.
The opportunity to compete is made
possible only with the cooperation of volunteers who judge. We will
respect all judges. Never badger or argue with a judge. Don’t ask for
comments or a decision. Be quiet in the round or in the hallway outside of a
round. Don’t create a disruption. Listen politely and take notes if a judge
offers comments and thank him/her for their time. Anyone who is abusive to a
judge will be suspended from tournament travel for a period of 30.I
am implementing a 10-10
whine rule. There will be no whining about judges or tournaments after 10
minutes or 10 miles from the time we load the bus to leave. I will not tolerate
any discussion of the judges or tournament while at the tournament. KEEP
YOUR MOUTHS SHUT WHILE AT TOURNAMENTS!!!!! You may only offer complimentary
criticisms while in the tournament site. If you can’t say anything nice…..Keep
your mouth shut!
days.
GENERAL
ETHICS
22. Expect to work if you expect to win. Do not expect to
gain privileges or position if you do nothing to contribute to the work of the
entire squad. Yes, most events are individual, but, if you do not work for the
benefit of the entire squad, you are the equivalent of a sponge. You soak up
valuable resources, give nothing back, and if left too long start to really
stink so that no one wants to be around you. Earn respect from your squad and
your competition by competing with honor, integrity, and dignity. This includes
those times when you may not be in round but are visible to other competitors,
community members, and/or your teammates. You will struggle on this squad if
you have no work ethic and/or personal ethics.
23. Since
we are a competitive activity it is important to constantly look for ways to
improve and be good stewards of our activity, it will be required that students
enter the competition room at the earliest time possible in the round and stay
there until all of the contestants have performed. You
will learn a lot of valuable information by watching your competition and see
exactly what you are up against. Also, you may see something that you can
incorporate into your speeches or cuttings that you may not have thought about
before. If you are double entered, and you should be, you will need to plan on
spending about ½ of your time in one event room and the other ½ of your time in
the other event room. While in the room, take notes about what you liked, disliked,
how you would rank, and what ratings you might give. Also, pay attention to
your judge to see what they react to and plan on adjusting your performance
accordingly
GRADING POLICIES
Your Forensics grade will be based on 4
different categories/ responsibilities that must be fulfilled in order to have
a successful, competitive, and respectable squad.
Category #1 Event Preparation 25% of total grade
Category #2 Performance 35%
of total grade
Category #3 Tournament hosting 30%
of total grade
Category #4 Participation 10%
of total grade
CATEGORY #1 Event
Preparation -- You must prepare a minimum of 4
separate in-class events. In class, each
student will prepare a speech event, an interp
(acting) event, participate in an in-class congress session, and compete in an
in-class tournament. For in-class tournament competition, a student must
complete a separate cutting or speech for use in competition.
For example: if you are going to
compete in an interp event at tournaments you may use
the cutting you prepared for the class assignment or you must prepare another
cutting and prep work for competition. Or, if you are going to compete with an
oration, you may use the speech you wrote for class but you must also prepare
another oration for competition. The number of preps you will have to complete
in the semester will depend on the number of events you want to compete in. You
may have only 5 preps or you may have up to 10 preps. Effectively each interper, orator, or informer will have at least two pieces
to compete with and will have no more and no less preps than extemp or LD students.
Each prep is
worth 150 points and each event has its own preparation requirements that must
be complete before any in-class performance or tournament competition. If you
are in debate prep then you will need to select extemp
for your first performance (IDA is not an event in which we will participate
in, except in very special circumstances).
Performance
– Each student will perform 3 events in front of the class and will receive a
grade on them. Each student will have the opportunity to compete at a maximum
of eight tournaments throughout the season. Each round competed in counts as 10
Pts. You may accumulate up to 300 Pts in competition rounds. The tournament
reports also count 10 Pts each for a maximum of 8 reports. .
A= 260 – 380 Pts
B= 200 – 259 Pts
C= 160 – 199 Pts
1) Provide a set number of judges
2) Provide items for the hospitality room/
concession stand
3) Perform assigned tasks at/during the
tournament
4) Perform clerical/preparation tasks in class
as needed
5) Maintain a positive, helpful, cheerful, appreciative
attitude during the tournament
Participation
– each student will earn up to ten points per week for constructive, active,
positive, productive use of class time.
National
Forensics League
The National Forensics League (NFL) is a
national organization, which recognizes debate and forensics students as
outstanding individuals. The purpose of NFL was stated in Article II of the
national charter as follows:
It
shall be the purpose of the organization to promote the interests of
interscholastic debate, oratory, and public speaking by encouraging a spirit of
fellowship and by conferring upon deserving candidates a worthy badge of
distinction.
The NFL is a prestigious organization
with which to be associated. Each year, thousands of students across the
country attempt to achieve this honor. Many of these people develop into future
leaders and prominent members of society. Student members of the past have
included the likes of John F. Kennedy, Lee Ioccoca,
Barbara Walters, James Dean, and Shelly Long to name a few.
Membership in NFL is encouraged at
Washburn Rural High School and is attained when a student achieves 25 points in
tournament competition, provided s/he is in the top 2/3 of his/her graduating
class academically.
In order to maintain an active chapter,
the WRHS NFL chapter elects officers from within its membership each spring.
The officers are chosen from and by their peers based on their talents and
capabilities. The following requirements must be met to be an NFL officer:
1. All officers must be active NFL members (must
regularly attend and participate in debate and/or forensics tournaments) and
must be enrolled in debate and forensics classes.
2. All officer candidates must have attained the
Degree of Excellence or higher.
3. All officer candidates must be at least
sophomores at the time of elections
4. If elected officer does not live up to
his/her responsibilities and promote team cooperation and spirit, s/he will be
asked to step down and elections will be held to fill any vacant positions.
NFL DISTRICT AND NATIONAL
TOURNAMENTS
Districts – To participate in the NFL
district forensics tournaments, a student must be a member of NFL. These are
varsity tournaments with a certain amount of prestige because they qualify the first,
second, and sometimes third place finishers to the national tournament.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES FOR
FORENSICS
Current as of 12-27-07
other locations will be added as the season progresses
25 - 26
February
2-3
2
2 St. Thomas Aquinas
8 - 9
8 - 9
9
Council Grove
23 - 24
22 - 23
23 Osage
City
29 - Mar
1 Silver
March
7 - 8
7 - 8
8 Eskridge-
14 - 15
14 - 15
28—29
28 - 29
29 Maize
April
4 - 5
NFL CONGRESS @
4 - 5
11 NFL
LD/PFD @ 1st United Methodist in
12
Spring Hill
8 - NFL
IE @ Washburn Rural High School
19
Tonganoxie
May
3 KSHSAA
State Speech Championship @