Vector Speech Wrap-Up, September 11, 2014

Welcome to a new year of Speech and Debate! 

It was a great kick-off meeting today -- if you were not able to join us, and are new to Vector, here is the link to the Orientation Prezi: Click Here for Orientation Prezi.  For those of you interested in the Debate slides, Clayton will post those soon on a new tab with other Vector slide presentations.

Speech Next Week:   We'll start at 4 pm sharp next week so don't be late or you will miss the Persuasive Speech Example given by one of our veteran students who earned top ranking at NITOC. We will cover the essentials of writing a platform speech and break up in small groups to discuss your platform topics, theses, and outlines.  Novice students come with a topic so we can help you refine it and brainstorm ideas with you.

Here are some other items I wasn't able to cover in club today--

Novice Mentors: I've assigned all the novice students a veteran mentor, so you will get a chance to work together when we break up into small groups for coaching every week.  I'll let you know who is paired with whom at club next week.

Varsity & Jr Varsity Awards: The requirements for earning either Varsity or Jr Varsity status will be posted soon on a new tab.  We will have tracking forms for you to keep track of your work in the Varsity/Jr Varsity Binder at club each week.

Speech Event Captains: If you are a veteran student and interested in serving as a Speech Event Captain, please let me know.  I still have slots open for a few of the events.  Serving as a Captain is required for a Varsity Speech Award.

Weekly Student Devotions: I've assigned a student per week beginning with the Veteran students.  David Ehrenman will give our devotion next week.  I'll share the link to the schedule with you via email soon.

Speech Homework for Next Week: Veterans - Write a Thesis and outline your major points for your Platform; Novice -- Come with a topic idea or two for your platform speech for us to discuss and brainstorm.

If you have any questions, please let me know: pkmillhouse@gmail.com

See you next week!
Mrs. Millhouse

NITOC Awards!

Vector had a fantastic showing at the awards ceremony tonight.  I am so proud of ALL our competitors for all their hard work this year to first of all qualify for Nationals and then continue to sharpen their skills to compete at the national level.  And with 630 competitors the competitions were tough this week!  All of us can be inspired by their hard work and determination.  

National Awards given tonight:

Sam Estep - 27th Persuasive (Quarter Finalist)

Michael Boyles - 17th Humorous (Semi Finalist)

Kyle Ziemnick - 34th Broadcasting (Quarter Finalist)

Cooper Millhouse - 6th Place Persuasive, Quarter Finalist Storytelling, Quarter Finalist Extemp 

Also competed:

Christopher Davis 

Rachel Degan

Lydia Frommack

Beckett Millhouse

Ben Smallwood

I hope you will look forward to another year of Speech and Debate, knowing that each of you have the potential to achieve excellence!

Blessings from San Diego!

Kim Millhouse

NITOC: Finals

It's been a great week here in San Diego. Exciting news.... Cooper broke to finals in persuasive! The awards ceremony is tonight and we look forward to hearing how everybody placed.

NITOC: Breaks

The remainder of the tournament will be spent at the University of California San Diego. I can't imagine the tournament staff slept on Wednesday night because when we arrived early Thursday morning, everything was set up and ready to go.

Team Policy Triple Octas:

Defrank/Koehnke

Quarterfinals Breaks:

Broadcasting: Kyle Ziemnick
Extemp: Cooper Millhouse
Mars Hill: Nora Shaheen
Persuasive: Sam Estep, Cooper Millhouse
Storytelling: Cooper Millhouse

Semifinal Breaks:

Humorous: Michael Boyles
Mars Hill: Nora Shaheen
Persuasive: Cooper Millhouse

Please continue to pray for the competitors and tournament staff today. :)

~Lily

NITOC Update

We're finishing up day two of NITOC 2014. Due to the fires in San Marcos, California State San Marcos is closed. We relocated to Point Loma Nazarene University and enjoyed beautiful weather and a day of parliamentary debate rounds.  The NITOC staff worked tirelessly [while still keeping an attitude of encouragement and joy] to find a different location for today. Six rounds of team policy and Lincoln Douglas debate were held at a resort in SanDiego.

Please be praying for our competitors [speech events begin tomorrow] as well as the tournament staff as they work to provide alternate locations for the duration of the tournament.

I'll update you all with breaks later this week. :)

~Lily