The "Why" and history of this site

For decades, Speech & Debate in our region - like most regions in the United States - has consisted of several different organizations.  Each organization offers coaches and students specific benefits related to the specific purpose of that organization.  That's still true today, and the activity of Speech & Debate in our region is very strong because of these various organizations.  In fact, each organization provides so much benefit to its members that most head coaches affiliate with a mixture that fits their programs the best.

The organizations listed have collaborated in one way or another for decades because, despite different purposes or foci, all the organizations have one common mission:  Support the rich academic environment of high school Speech & Debate.

But that collaboration also created confusion:  Each organization had it's own web presence.  A coach may frequently, in the course of their year, need to access the GSL website, then the MSHSAA website, then the NSDA website... it was inefficient, confusing, and a barrier for new coaches coming into our community.  Worse... if there was a bit of information that pertained to EVERYONE regardless of affiliation (like a calendar, contact directory, list of tournaments, etc.) our community didn't have one place for a coach to look for that.

​This needed to change.

In the Fall of 2018, Jennifer Raymond (President, GSL), Robyn Haug (Chair, MSHSAA District #4), and Justin Seiwell (Chair, EastMO NSDA) came together to build ONE WEBSITE to point coaches (and eventually volunteers, judges, and students) in the right direction!

The plan was to go very slow and build it "right."  We planned to spend roughly a year slowly building everything and release a fully functional, robust, community-based digital home by 2020.

However, on January 1, 2019, right before the "Districts Season" the "EastMO NSDA" website crashed and could not be recovered.  Plans were accelerated to get coaches the information they NEED to lead their teams through MSHSAA and NSDA Districts. 

We launched this site on January 4th, 2019 -- just six weeks after we came up with the initial concept.  It was NO WHERE near finished, but we needed something out there.

So now this project is out there for the public, but at the same time it's still being built.  

HERE'S WHAT WE'VE BUILT SO FAR:​

• We have an interface for MSHSAA and NSDA Districts that's easy to understand and update from year to year.  
• We have a specific page for the entire community calendar.
• We have a specific page for the entire community directory and invite-distribution list.
• We have one page with a smattering of community-based resources for coaches to use.
• We have one page for notes about community meetings.
• We have sub-pages for each of the organizations.  Some are more developed than others, but it can at least give coaches a starting point to getting the information and resources they need.

Because of the early launch, we focused entirely on COACHES.

HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GOING:

• We're building a "volunteer" platform to help people get involved through judging, coaching, donating, etc.
• We're building a "judging resources page" to help judges feel comfortable with rounds.
• We're building a "student" page so students can get involved in our community through leadership, scholarships, service, recognition, etc.  
• We're building a "teacher" page that will house curriculum and team management tips provided by local coaches
• We're building a "start a program" page to help teachers, administrators, parents, and students develop programs at their own schools.
• Finally, we'll make everything look pretty!

This will take a LOT of time!  Remember that this website is a volunteer-effort and none of us are experts at web-building.

We'll provide updates as we go to this blog.

If you would like to help in this project, contact justinseiwell@claytonschools.net!  We could really use it!