Vox Rationis Savannah Speech & Debate Club 2016-2017 Information
Vox Rationis Savannah is FEFC’s very own speech and debate club. The purpose of
the club is to prepare students to compete in the speech and debate tournaments
sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
(NCFCA).
NCFCA is a national Christian homeschool organization that believes
“that formal speech and debate can provide a means for
homeschooled students to learn and exercise analytical
and oratorical skills, addressing life issues
from a biblical worldview in a manner that glorifies God”.
Who may join Vox Rationis Savannah?
*Homeschooled students
*Members of FEFC
*Between ages of 13 and 18 on September 1, 2016
(Motivated students aged 12 may participate in club, but are not eligible to
compete in sanctioned tournaments.)
Requirements
*Each family must join (“affiliate”) with NCFCA by September 15, 2016.
*Each student is required to attend a practice or qualifying tournament with a parent.
*Students are to maintain a notebook and print off weekly assignments.
*A parent is to participate in certain scheduled meetings.
How much does it cost?
*Family affiliation with NCFCA is $100 before September 15th. (www.ncfca.org)
*No cost to participate in Vox Rationis Savannah; costs are contained by requiring
students to print off their weekly assignments at home.
When do we meet?
*Mondays – Speech meets 1-3, Debate meets 3-4. We end promptly at 4:00.
*16 regular meetings during the fall and winter starting August 22nd. We will not
meet on Labor Day. We will suspend weekly meetings during spring tournament
season.
*Additional meetings “as needed” during the tournament season.
Where do we meet?
At the home of the Mullins’ family, 1950 Turners Rock Road, which is between
Whitemarsh Island and Wilmington Island in Savannah.
What speech and debate events are available?
NCFCA offers two styles of debate (Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas Debate) and
eleven individual speech events. Students may compete in whichever events they
prefer, but this year we will be focusing on five speech events and Lincoln
Douglas Debate.
Meet our assistant coach – Nathaniel Mullins
Nathaniel Mullins (class of 2014) will be helping to coach Lincoln Douglas classes
remotely from Patrick Henry College, where he is attending on a debate scholarship.
Nathaniel placed 6th nationally in debate in 2013, won 1st Place at the Jacksonville
Qualifier in 2014, and won many other awards in speech and debate during his fouryear career in NCFCA. Nathaniel took a gap year in 2014-2015 and taught in a mission
school in Japan for ten months. He is also a contributing author to Monument
Publishing’s Red Book (a sourcebook for LD debaters).
Types of Events
1. Debate –
a. Team Policy Debate
b. Lincoln Douglas Debate
2. Platform speeches –
a. Persuasive
b. Informative
c. Illustrated oratory
d. Biographical narrative
3. Limited preparation speeches
a. Impromptu
b. Apologetics
c. Extemporaneous
4. Interpretive events – “creatively explore and develop the intellectual,
emotional, and artistic embodiment of a single piece of literature for
performance”. These events appeal to “theatrical” students.
a. Duo
b. Open
c. Original interpretation
d. Biblical interpretation (new category this year; rules will be posted soon.)
Two Tracks will be offered:
Novice – beginner students who have not yet competed in a qualifying tournament.
Varsity – students who have competed in a qualifying tournament and whose parent
served as a judge in a qualifying tournament.
Dress Code:
Club Meetings – modest attire, business casual preferred. Prefer no jeans or tshirts.
Tournamentsa. Gentlemen: Gentlemen shall wear suits or sport coats with dress slacks,
together with a dress shirt and tie. (And dress shoes, too!)
b. Ladies: Modesty is the key and may include suits, dresses, and skirts with
hemlines to the middle of the knee. Tight-fitting/low-cut clothing is inappropriate.
Midriff must remain covered when gesturing in speeches.
Tournament information
Georgia is in Region 8, which includes Florida and South Carolina.
Tournament schedule:
1. Fall- Students write speeches, learn interpretive pieces, and research debate
arguments.
2. Early Winter – Students polish their speeches and attend practice tournaments.
Practice tournaments typically last one day.
3. Winter/Spring – Students compete in “qualifying tournaments”. Club meetings
are suspended during this time because of the time demands of competition.
At a tournament:
The first day is a half-day used for orientation, judge training, and script submission.
The second and third days are filled with competition. The fourth day is semi-finals
and finals and the award ceremony.
Debaters will debate six times, three times as “Affirmative” and three times as
“Negative”. Those who have a winning record will advance to “Outrounds”. Then the
debate teams will be paired in elimination rounds.
In speech events (called Individual Events or IE), each student will compete in three
rounds of speech. In each round, the speaker will compete against seven other
students. Three judges will rank these students from one to eight. Those students with
the best ranks will advance to semi-finals.
Tournaments are judged by parents, alumni, and community volunteers. NCFCA
emphasizes a conversational style of debate and real-world communication skills.
Qualifying tournaments
NCFCA sponsors four regional qualifying tournaments and three “national opens”. The
tournaments last 3 ½ days. Tournaments are usually Wednesday afternoon through
Saturday night. Additionally there are three “national opens” which gather students
from all regions.
Students who place in qualifying tournaments advance to the Regional Invitational,
and then to the National Championship.
Other expenses
There are other expenses involved in participation in NCFCA tournaments. These
include tournament attire, travel costs, registration fees, hotels, and food. There are
creative ways to trim the expenses. NCFCA offers need-based scholarships.
Guest housing is often available. Meals may be packed instead of purchased. Most
debaters I know find terrific suits at thrift shops and have them professionally altered.
Also hotel and traveling expenses may be shared with other members of the club.
Student obligations
Students are expected to attend class with completed homework.
They are expected to write and deliver speeches and/or debate briefs, to listen to
others’ speeches, and to deliver constructive feedback. Club time is a wonderful time to
encourage one another and build one another up in our faith.
Parent obligations
Parents are not required to attend regular meetings.
A parent will be required to attend a few special meetings when students will be
performing their speeches or practicing debates.
A parent is also required to attend either a practice tournament or a
qualifying tournament with the student. At the tournament, the parent will
serve as a judge. The value of this can not be underestimated! It is not only important
because it gives the parent a close-up look at what competitive speech and debate is all
about, but also because it will inspire both parent and student alike to see what these
Christian young people are doing to glorify God through speech and debate!
Examples of speeches from the National Championship are available at
http://www.ncfca.org/what-we-do/speech-and-debate-competition/speech/
To REGISTER: Complete the Registration form available on fefconline.com and either
1. Scan it and email it to [email protected]
2. Mail it to Cyndi Mullins at 1950 Turners Rock Road, Savannah, GA 31410
3. Fill it out and bring it to the information meeting on August 20th at the FEFC Kick
off Meeting or to our first meeting on August 22nd.
Registration deadline is September 15, 2016. First meeting is August 22,
2016.