Roosevelt Speech & Debate

Reminders for this week.

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Marks) — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 02:30:00 +0000

* Wednesday, August 28 - Team Meeting at 4pm. Roosevelt HS room 2860

* Wednesday, August 28 - Trivia Night (optional) 7:00 pm at Papa Keno's Pizza. Trivia is free, bring money for food and pop.

* Saturday, August 31 - Meals From the Heartland Hunger Fight packaging event. (optional) Roosevelt S&D will package at noon, check in at 11:45. Silver Cord hours! Flyer for Meals From the Heartland available at this link: MftH Flyer

Team Picnic!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Marks) — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 03:55:00 +0000

Our team picnic will be hosted at Cael's house on August 15, for more information, see the attached image! If you need the address, contact Jennifer Marks at (515)-689-4934.

The 2019-2020 Season

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 21:24:00 +0000

Greetings all,

I am writing this post to confirm my resignation from the position of Director of Forensics effective July 1st, 2019. I love this program, and I love these students, but I feel as if I am unable to continue in this position to the best of my abilities given my current time and work constraints. I believe and hope I am leaving the program in an incredible position for continued success--there is immense talent in this program, and I'm certain the next Director will continue to build upon this foundation. Go Roosevelt!

Team T-Shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:48:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

The store for this years T-Shirts is now open! They are $22 each, and proceeds will go directly to the team, so please consider purchasing them! Here's the link: https://www.agpestores.com/vanginkels/groupproducts.php?prodgroup_id=22029&prodgroupbypass=true

IFLs Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 21:22:00 +0000

We will depart on March 7th at approximately 2:00PM. We will be staying at the Hampton Inn at 4 Sturgis Corner Drive. We will return Saturday night, hopefully leaving Iowa City by 8:00PM--it really just depends on when awards finish up. We will keep everyone updated about return times during awards.

IFLs

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:23:00 +0000

Just a reminder IFLs was rescheduled from the first weekend to March 7-9.

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 23:38:00 +0000

Dowling concwssions parent meeting at 6pm in the Library on Monday, November 19. The Dowling bus for Glenbrooks will be leaving at 11:15 on friday from the NE corner of adowling. Please be there at 11am at the latest. We will be able to provide shuttles if you let us know. Everyone will be excused after 1st block on Friday.

GMU

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 17:59:00 +0000

GMU fees have been posted. Please pay these ASAP!

Glenbrooks Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 02:32:00 +0000

Apologies for the delay. Cutrent departure time set as after third block, staying st the Courtyard Marriott in Glenview. 12 students + Aubrey will trabel on the Dowling bus, and the remainder will travel with me in a DMPS van. We will be returning Sunday evening around 5pm, to arrive in dsm by no later than 10pm. Additional details regarding the Dowling bus logistics to follow.

Parent Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 20:54:00 +0000

The parent meeting for this year will be Tuesday, September 4th, in the Library at 6:30PM. Hope to see you all there!

Tournament Sign-Up Sheet

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 21:12:00 +0000

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gKI3F2b5RKUWL4bhbbpKYRcl0WR8yLu6OJZaJ1XuWGE/edit?usp=sharing

Please put your name and event under the tournaments you would like to attend. If you are doing a partner event, please list yourself and your partner in a single cell--your partner should bold the cell to confirm the partnership. There are tournaments that are missing on this page--if there is a tournament you would like to attend that you do not see, please reach out to me and I will add it.

The HIGHLY Tentative Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 14:52:00 +0000

Okay everyone, here's a schedule with estimated costs of all of the tournaments I currently have on the schedule. You may notice that costs have increased over last year--we were cutting razor thin margins last year, we won't get away with that again.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GJJKXGp9wz7C83vPyL0jiNWQ6NeYUAyKh1PvZ0V7bHk/edit?usp=sharing

You'll also notice that the dates are not all there. Generally speaking, it is structured in the order that tournaments occur--but as of now, I do not have dates for all of the tournaments. I will continue updating this throughout the year, so please do not take this calendar as law--I'm getting this out there for budgeting purposes, but it is subject to change. If there are any tournaments I have forgotten, please reach out to me and I can add them to the list.

As far as budgeting is concerned, there will be a few changes this year I'd like to make people aware of in advance:

First, we will be collecting team fees this year. The team fee will be $100 a student. This is necessary this year to supplement our lost budget. With that, there are a few guidelines: the team fee MUST be paid in full before your student will be allowed to compete for the team. However, we will not be accepting payments for these team fees until your previous account balance has been zeroed. We, as a team, will not be able to compete until our outstanding balance is paid for. It is imperative that each and every family check the balance of their Infinite Campus account and ensure that they have paid off their balance. Remember, this was due June 1st. It is now August. I cannot negotiate any further extensions on these payments with Administration.

I have increased the number of quality tournaments that are available for everyone to compete at. I would very much like to be able to take as many students to these tournaments as I can--but this will only be possible if we're consistently paying for our tournaments. We can't let this get out of control this year.

Debate Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Sat, 28 Jul 2018 20:30:00 +0000

Here are the details for the picnic. We need people to come or this won't work! Please bring something assigned to your class with you. Thank you!

Nats Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 01:52:00 +0000

Good evening,

A more detailed itinerary will be emailed to parents. Please shoot me an email or text so I know which emails to send ticketing information to.

Briefly,

There will be two flights. The first flight, containing everyone who I have not previously discussed the other flight with, will be departing DSM at 5:40AM on June 17th. This group will leave Fort Lauderdale at 6:30AM the following Sunday, June 24th, arriving back in Des Moines around 12PM.

We will be staying at the Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale on 17th Street. This places us 5 minutes away from the convention center, and 11 minutes away from the airport. The weather looks great (read: cooler than Iowa), and our location could hardly be better--I'm looking forward to a wonderful week in Florida with everyone! Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Nats Details

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Mon, 21 May 2018 21:15:00 +0000

We will need $150 from each person by the end of the week (May 25), at this point we will be able to purchase the plane tickets. The first $150 will cover judging and registration costs that have already been paid for. An additional $200 from each family by June 1st. The rest will be due on June 15th. Net cost of plane tickets is estimated at 4900, so that'll puts us close to our budget. Sticking to this schedule is incredibly important for keeping our estimates accurate--any delays will delay our ability to pay for the various expenses, and can affect costs. Please be timely.

It's a total of $630 unless otherwise discussed with me.

The travel plan is as follows:

Myself, and two other adults will take a van on the 15th bound for Ft Lauderdale with any students that would like to lower the cost (avoiding plane travel). As of right now, we have space for 1 person.

Chase McCool and Loan Nyugen will be our in-flight chaperones. We will likely need to take two separate flights, both flying out on the 16th, and returning on the 23rd.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

T Shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Fri, 11 May 2018 18:20:00 +0000

Roosevelt Speech and Debate team t-shirts are available for order online NOW! The site will close on 5/18/18. We are going through VanGinkel's. Shirts will be $14 plus tax. Roosevelt blue with white lettering. Design is subject to change, pending TRHS admin approval. Shirts will be delivered to the school no later than 5/31/18.

Congratulations on a great season!

Here is the link to the store:

Roosevelt Speech & Debate Online Store

Anne's Coaching Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 14:10:00 +0000

Here is the Google doc with which you can sign up for coaching with Anne, and the times and dates she will be available for the rest of the year!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U97ldRDdoHMBZZmvHl-_W5ENSdtF1ac55_bFjbQ_2Jo/edit?usp=sharing

ToC, Banquet, and Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 21:27:00 +0000

Greetings,

There will be two vans leaving for ToCs. I will be driving one, and the Marks family will be driving the other. My van, at present, will be leaving at 8:00AM, and will include:
Sophia G
Ellie K
Sean A
Sri C
Logan G
Finn A
Ellie H

and the Marks van will be leaving at 6:30AM, and will include:
Cael F
Maddie K
Ben T
Jocelyn M

If you are in my van and would like your luggage to be transported in the Marks van (a couple people need to do this for space reasons), please bring your bags to be put in their van to practice on Thursday.

We will arrive in Lexington around 7-8PM. The tournament proper begins bright and early on Saturday at 8AM. We will be returning on Monday--we may send the vans back at different times, based on when people are out of the tournament. The latest I can imagine us being back is Midnight of Monday the 30th (Tuesday, technically). Everyone should be able to attend school on Tuesday if willing.

The Banquet will be on May 15th, at Plymouth. I believe we're looking at 6:00PM but ore information will be posted soon. Please email me (quentin.hardt@dmschools) with an estimate of how many people your family plans to have attend, so we can get an accurate headcount for catering purposes.

I also need confirmation regarding Nationals that everyone who qualified is planning to attend. We're trying to keep the costs at approximately $500 a person, so pretty close to last year. However, because we have to fly, it's possible that it'll be slightly more expensive, so it's important to keep this in mind for planning purposes. Additionally, if any parents are considering attending, please contact me so that we can discuss the logistics of this.

Finally, Anne has returned from maternity leave! I will post a link to a Google Doc with her practice schedule soon, but if you would like to schedule time to work with her, please reach out to me in the meantime.

2017-2018 "Regular Season" Review, and Other Housekeeping Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:48:00 +0000

First, another reminder to please be cognizant of your outstanding balances on Infinite Campus. We still have a significant amount of unresolved fees, and they've definitely added up over the year!

Second, regarding Nationals and ToCs: the relevant fees will have to be paid before departure. I should have both tournaments priced out with an itinerary by the beginning of next week. For non-graduating families, it is possible that this will affect how you want to pay your fees--that's fine, but regardless of your account balance going into these tournaments, the eventual posted fees must be paid before we leave.

On that note, we are exploring the possibility of busing with other Des Moines area schools to Nationals. Upon further review, it's entirely possible that the cost of going to Florida for a week will actually be higher if we fly--we would need at minimum 3 parents or 25+ chaperones (As of now, the only person who would qualify for this that is attending would be Chase) in order to manage transportation upon arrival. This means we would have to rent at least 3 cars, and arrange these additional hotel rooms and flights. It's possible that this is not within our budget, and we certainly can't expect parents to take a week off of work to come to the tournament and be a glorified taxi driver. I will determine our transportation plans for Nationals by Friday.

On a more positive note, and with the regular season of the Speech and Debate year drawing to a close (Only Congress and BigQ qualifiers remaining!), I thought it'd be nice to reflect on everything we've accomplished this year (there's a lot!). This can serve as a reference point for anyone who asks about the successes we've accumulated as a team, listed by tournament. All told, we've competed at almost 30 tournaments this year, tournaments with representation from all 50 states and at least two other countries. The opportunities we have had this year have been incredible, and we should be eternally grateful to the district and administration for being as supportive of us as they have been. We are very fortunate to have received the funding that we have--most programs receive none. With that said, here is the return on that investment:

Iowa (Important: Roosevelt won all sweepstakes awards at the major Iowa tournaments. This is a very rare feat):

Simpson Storm:

2nd in Dramatic Interpretation (DI)

2nd in Humorous Interpretation (HI)

1st in Informative Speaking (Info)

1st/2nd in Spontaneous Speaking (Spont)

2nd/3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking (Extemp)

3rd/4th in Congressional Debate (Congress)

1st/2nd in Public Forum (PF)

North:

1st in Spont

1st in Extemp

1st/2nd/3rd in PF

2nd in Policy

Finalist in Congress

2nd in Debate Sweepstakes (Sweeps, which is a ranking of overall performance by schools)

Tournavelt:

1st/2nd in Original Oratory (OO)

1st in DI

3rd in HI

1st/3rd in Extemp

East:

1st in Info

1st in OO

5th in Congress

Bettendorf:

1st in DI

3rd in Extemp

5th in HI

Johnston:

1st/2nd in HI

1st in OO

1st in Spont

2nd in Extemp

2 Finalists in Congress

Lincoln:

1st/2nd in Info

2nd in Spont

2nd in DI

1st/3rd/5th in Congress

3-1 Maverick in PF (Not allowed to advance to elimination rounds)

IHSSA:

1st/2nd/2 additional Finalists in Congress

Medal of Recognition in Congress

1st/2nd/3rd/top 16 in PF

1st/2nd in Policy

1st in Sweeps by the largest margin in IHSSA history

Districts:

11 Qualified to Nationals (And winners in 4 events!), in:

1 DI

1 Info

1 OO

4 Extemp

1 PF

1 Policy

1st in Speech Sweeps, Debate tentative(!)

IFLs:

4th in DI

2nd in HI

4th/5th in Info

1st/6th in OO

1st/2nd/3rd/5th in DX (Domestic Extemp)

2nd/3rd/5th/6th in IX (International Extemp)

1st/3rd/4th/6th in Spont

4th/5th in Poetry

1st/2nd/3rd/5th/6th/7th/8th and an additional Finalist in Congress

2 Semi-finalists, 1 Quarter-finalist, and 1 Octafinalist in PF

1 Semi-finalist in Policy

1st in Speech AND Debate Sweeps

Nationals (Important to note: we have accumulated 30 bids to the Tournament of Champions this year on the National Circuit, spread across almost 15 kids. That's MASSIVE--the rest of the state of Iowa COMBINED barely surpasses this total):

University of Kentucky:

Top 32 finish in PF

Valley:

2nd in the PF Round Robin

Top 4 and top 16 finishes in PF

Top Speaker Award in PF (it's basically a handmade, large, wooden sledgehammer. They're pretty nice)

New Trier:

Top 32 in Policy

Apple Valley:

2 Finalists in Congress

Top 16 in PF

Top 32 in PF

3 Top 10 Speakers in PF (Including first!)

University of Michigan:

4-3 in Policy

Badgerland:

Top 4, 8, and 16 finishes in PF

Glenbrooks:

Semifinals in Congress

Top 32 in PF

...and a number of competitors impossibly close to advancing, such as:

1 rank from elimination rounds in Info (the difference of getting a 3 instead of a 4 in ONE round),

5-2 and 4-3 finishes in PF,

and a few close rounds of Policy...

GMU:

6th and Quarterfinalist in Info

6th in Extemp

Top 16 in PF

Top 32 in PF

Finalist and Semifinalist in Congress

Dowling Paradigm:

6th/Semifinalist in Info

8th/11th (Finals) in Congress

Top 8 and two Top 16 Finishes in PF

Blake:

3-0 start in Policy (Until one of the competitors lost her voice... :( )

2 top 32 finishes in PF

2 Semifinalists in Congress

3rd/4th/6th in Extemp

Sunvitational:

6th in the Extemp Round Robin

Quarterfinalist in Extemp

Quarterfinalist in PF

Emory:

Top 64 in PF

Marshall:

5th in Extemp

Semifinalist in Info

6th in Novice HI

Evanston:

Champion in Public Forum

Top 2 speakers in Public Forum

Harvard:

Octafinalist in Info

Quarterfinalist in Congress

Top 64 in Public Forum

Millard North:

5th in Congress

2 Quarterfinalists in PF

2nd in the PF Round Robin

PSA: Congress Qualifiers

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 22:14:00 +0000

Greetings,

If your child is attending Congress Qualifiers in Carroll next Saturday, March 17th, you aren't busy and want to/are able to come to the tournament, please contact me. I'm more easily reached by call or text, but email works as well. We have 10 kids that would like to attend, but I'm only able to transport 7 myself. I'm not certain what time the tournament starts (it's yet to be posted on tabroom), but the current plan is to leave early Saturday morning, and return that night. I will post an update once I hear back about the start time.

Fees, IFLs Itinerary, Congress Qualifiers, and ToCs

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 22:08:00 +0000

Hello everyone,

Fees through this past weekend have been posted, except for I believe Marshall. Marshall will be posted in the next couple of days. Please be conscientious of these--they need to be paid by the end of the year, and the sooner the better! We've had a heavy travel schedule, and these fees may have added up for some kids that have traveled more extensively. The sum does not need to be paid all at once, but it DOES need to be paid by the end of the year. The more fees we accrue, the more difficulty we have with getting our travel approved, so PLEASE pay these as you are able to.

For IFLs, we will be leaving Roosevelt on a school bus at 2:30, Thursday, March 1st. We will be returning Saturday, March 3rd, at 7:30 (*leaving Iowa City at 7:30 to return at approximately 9:15). We will be staying at the Iowa House Hotel, which is connected to the Iowa Memorial Union on the University of Iowa Campus.

RE: Congress Qualifiers. Currently, we have:

Senate:

Ellie H

Finn A

House:

Wyatt J

Olivia A

Claire K

Amelia P

Sarah S

Grace G

Quinn M

signed up. There are two slots remaining in House. If your child wants an additional opportunity at qualifying for Nationals, or just wants the extra NSDA points, please reach out to me! Congress qualifiers is taking place on March 17th, on the DMACC campus.

For ToCs: We currently have between 13-15 kids signed up. The current plan is to travel with Johnston and/or Ames, and take a bus, if possible. Otherwise, we'll need to take two vans and will travel independently. ToCs takes place on April 28-30. We will plan to return May 1st, or travel through the night/afternoon on the 30th. elimination rounds start on the 30th, and it's a long drive to Lexington. The exact logistics for travel will be determined sooner rather than later, but the intention is to stay at the Campbell House in Lexington.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Xmas Party Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 02:27:00 +0000

Don’t forget!! Xmas party at the Konfrst's house (Text someone with an iPhone for the address) Wednesday the 20th at 7:00 PM! Please bring food if you can, or there won't be any!! Also don't forget, this is a white elephant party, so if you don't bring a gift you won't get one!

Blake Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 21:59:00 +0000

Greetings everyone,

We're planning on leaving Thursday after school at around 3PM, and ***EDIT*** leaving ***EDIT*** Sunday morning at around 9AM. The awards ceremony is pretty late Saturday, so the plan is to leave early the following morning. Hotel information and cost will be posted later tonight.

Last Call for Volunteers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 21:20:00 +0000

If anyone hasn’t yet and is still available this weekend, we really need more parent volunteers for the concessions stand, particularly at Merrill! Please check the signup genies below and add your availability if possible! This is a very important fundraiser for us, and will be critical for mitigating the costs of Nationals this year (we‘re probably going to need to fly to Ft. Lauderdale!).

Sign-up Genies for Paradigm

noreply@blogger.com (Max Hardt) — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 19:58:00 +0000

Here are the 4 sign-up genies. Please check these ASAP and add your availability! We'll meet next week, Monday the 4th, at 5:30 in the library to confirm everything and verify what we still need for this to go as successfully as Tournavelt did!

Roosevelt: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050845a4a9229-dowling
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050845a4a9229-concession1

Merrill: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050845a4a9229-volunteers
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050845a4a9229-concession

Another reminder to make sure to be conscientious of the postings to Infinite Campus accounts--we're nearing the end of the heavy travel section of the schedule, so the significant chunk of money for the year is already posted.