You are invited to the Fourth Annual Burnett Speech and Debate Tournament on May 14 and 15, 2011. All students in 6th to 8th grades are invited to attend.

The most significant change from last year is that for the first time, the tournament will take place over the course of two days. On Saturday, May 14, students may participate in any of six speech events: Persuasive, Expository, Autobiographical Narrative, Duo Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking and Oral Interpretation. On Sunday, May 15, students may participate in one of two debate events: Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas. Rules and descriptions of each event are included in this invitation, as well as the resolutions for debate.

Because of the change in tournament schedule, the rules for cross-entering have been modified: Students may compete in up to three events: two speech events and one debate event. Students may not compete in three speech events or in two debate events. Students who choose to double-enter should be aware of the proper procedures to enter and exit their rounds politely and professionally.

As in previous years, middle school students who have competed in high school debate tournaments are not allowed to participate in debate. Additionally, the use of laptop computers in debate rounds is not permitted. Dress code is business casual: polos and slacks for boys; dresses and blouses for girls.

Burnett is located at 850 N. 2nd Street near the Hwy 87, Taylor St. exit. Park in the Hedding Street Parking lot. On both days, Registration will be in the school cafeteria (which adjoins the parking lot) at 8:00 AM, followed by an opening assembly. There will be separate awards ceremonies for speech and for debate, both of which will take place at 3:30 PM. We estimate that the tournament will be over by 4:00 PM both days.

In both speech and in debate, all students will participate in four rounds of each event in which they are entered. In speech, Round 3 will be a hidden semifinal round and Round 4 will be a hidden final round. All students will receive participation awards and the top ranking students in each event will receive trophies. Special awards may also be given at the tournament director's discretion to recognize exceptional effort or behavior.

There is no charge for tournament entry. Food is complimentary for all students, teachers, and judges and will include morning and afternoon snacks and a pizza lunch. Judges will be Coast Forensic League high school speech and debate students.

Registration and tabulation will take place using Joy of Tournaments (joyoftournaments.com/ca/burnett); school affiliation, students' names, and the event(s) in which they are entered are due by Friday, April 22, 2011. We realize that this is an early deadline, but we anticipate a large entry and want to ensure that all schools can be accommodated. We also took Easter break into consideration.

Please do not email your entries to any tournament staff to be entered. Included with this invitation are instructions on how to use Joy of Tournaments to enter your students in the tournament.

If your high school team uses Joy of Tournaments, please create separate accounts for each of the middle schools which you are entering rather than entering them all under your high school's Joy of Tournaments account. This helps simplify the tabulation process, especially for debate. Additionally, if there are multiple teachers from a single middle school entering students on Joy of Tournaments, please coordinate and create only one account for your middle school rather than a separate account for each class.

Instructional materials will be provided upon request; please email kairav.sinha@gmail.com. Questions about the tournament should be directed to gay.brasher@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to seeing you on May 14 and 15, as Burnett makes middle school speech and debate history once again in Silicon Valley.

Lisa Aguerria-Lewis
Gay Brasher

Burnett Speech and Debate

Leland Speech and Debate