​SPEECH & DEBATE DURING COVID-19

October 7, 2020
EastMO Forensics releases our "October 2020 Newsletter" for coaches!  Very valuable information about invitations, creating accounts, a instructional video series!  We're all learning a new virtual system this year, but Speech & Debate is thriving!

September 8, 2020
EastMO Forensics releases our "September 2020 Newsletter" for coaches!  Includes information about the calendar, rule changes, a virtual tournament format, etc.  It's a MUST READ for any coach!

September 3, 2020
We are SUPER close to having a calendar made and a virtual tournament format hammered out!  And MSHSAA announced today that they'll be posting rule revisions to accommodate virtual tournaments!  A big EastMO update will come on MONDAY, September 7th! 


August 5, 2020
Good news!  MSHSAA released a statement today announcing that they will allow individual schools to determine if students can participate in athletics/activities during all-virtual learning.  This essentially paves the way for Speech & Debate competitions to be held virtually.  
An EastMO All-Coaches' Meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 18th via Zoom.  Meeting details can be found at www.eastmoforensics.com/meetings.
August 1, 2020
The Coronavirus pandemic has forced all of us to rethink what "normal" is.  Speech & Debate is no exception.  Planning for the 2020-2021 competitive season means working with a bunch of variables and unknowns.  At this time, we simply don't have a lot of answers to the major questions.  Instead, we're providing some basic information based on what we know now and then a starting point for how we'll proceed in the future.
ACKNOWELDGEMENTS
As a community, we need to acknowledge a few truths that may help guide some problem-solving conversations that will happen in mid-August:
  • The physical health and safety of students are of the utmost priority and importance.
  • The Coronavirus pandemic has affected EVERYONE in one way or another.  Many students, coaches, parents, and volunteers may be experiencing signs of trauma and/or mourning.  With the new school year rapidly approaching, anxieties are certainly high for everyone.
  • Speech & Debate cannot be the top priority for anyone at this time.  Students have to navigate learning in a remote environment or socially-distanced school.  Teachers & coaches have to  teach in these environments and be emotionally prepared to work with student needs in a new way.  Parents have to make exceedingly difficult decisions about their child's safety and continuing education (while probably navigating their own work-environment).  And EVERYONE is also trying to care for themselves and their own families.
  • At the same time, Speech & Debate can be very healthy for students as it provides a means to constructively engage with the world, can provide a sense of normalcy, and helps build student voice, efficacy, confidence.  Plus, the skills of public speaking, persuasion, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc. are arguably more important now than ever before.  Just because it cannot be the top priority for anyone doesn't mean Speech & Debate should be overlooked.
WHERE WE ARE AT THIS POINT (AUGUST 1, 2020):
  • Missouri COVD-19 cases rose statewide throughout July.  St. Louis County is considered a hotspot and has rolled back their reopening process. 
  • Many school districts in St. Louis and Kansas City have already announced that they will be all-virtual though the first quarter of the Fall 2020 semester.  All school districts are providing a virtual learning option for families semester or year-long.  That being said, many school districts in mid-Missouri are going back in a hybrid-setting.  The pandemic will hit different geographical regions in different ways. 
  • The state government has deferred to local school districts and county leadership to make decisions.  This makes planning any interscholastic competition schedule exceedingly difficult.
  • On July 15, 2020, MSHSAA released GUIDELINES that indicate an all-virtual school cannot participate in any MSHSAA-activites, including Speech & Debate, regardless of whether or not it can be done in a virtual/remote environment.  UPDATE 8/3:  The MSHSAA Board of Directors is holding an emergency meeting the morning of August 4, 2020 to reevaluate this decision.
  • In June of 2020, the NSDA was able to host the National Tournament entirely virtually.  It can be done, but requires a significant effort on the part of the host school, participating students, and volunteer judges.  
MOVING FORWARD FROM HERE:
  • As a community, we need to wait for final clarification from the MSHSAA Board of Directors.  This will determine what options exist for Speech & Debate competition.
  • EastMO Forensics will not be able to publish a finalized calendar prior to the start of the school year.  Too much is changing rapidly. Instead, the calendar will be a live Google Doc and interactive Google Calendar on www.eastmoforensics.com/calendar.
  • Coaches will meet via Zoom in mid-August to discuss options for virtual tournaments, alternative styles of tournaments, etc.  This will be where the problem-solving conversations will be held to make this season as good as possible for students. The details and link to access that meeting will eventually be available at www.eastmoforensics.com/meetings.
  • For the START of the year, we'll still ask coaches to fill out their contact information form and at least indicate which leagues they might join.  We recognize that much will change this year, but getting a solid contact list together will go a long way to facilitating the much needed conversations.
  • We CANNOT confirm at this time any local invitational or conference-tournament during the Fall semester.  In-person tournaments are currently ill-advised; virtual tournaments require a tremendous efforts by the host school's coach and students (who will be busy navigating a very different style of teaching and learning in classes).  At this time, simply too many variables exist to confidently plan a tournament.
  • We CAN confirm that there will be some form of NSDA Districts in the Spring and NSDA Nationals will occur in June.  The nature of what these look like will start to emerge in January 2021.​​
​IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KNOW:
  • The EastMO Forensics community is NOT a governing body; rather it is a collaborative group of coaches.  At this point in time, the key decision-making body is the Missouri State High School Activities Association (www.mshsaa.org) and individual school district administrators.
  • At the local level, the EastMO NSDA District Committee, the MSHSAA District #4 Advisory Representative,  the GSL President, and the St. Louis NCFL Moderator are collaborating frequently.  This group of league directors is working to anticipate needs of coaches and advocating to our parent organizations.  We welcome your input, but know that even these governing bodies are currently unable to make any impactful decisions; they are ALL required to defer to the MSHSAA Board of Directors.
OVERALL...
This year will be different, but it can still be a positive experience for students.  Students will in some way be able to engage with a Speech & Debate curriculum, coaches will still be able to collaborate, and valuable learning will occur.  This page of our website will be kept as up-to-date as possible to ensure transparency.  As a community, we'll work together to navigate this challenging year.

SPRING 2020 ARCHIVE

The information below pertains to updates that were provided from March 9 - April 1, 2020.  Much of the information is now out-of-date or irrelevant, but is being left on this page for transparency and to provide an archive.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES

This section was last updated on 4/1/2020

OVERVIEW

The Eastern Missouri Forensics Community - including representatives from NSDA, MSHSAA, and NCFL - are closely monitoring the impact of Coronavirus on the upcoming events in our community:  MSHSAA State, NCFL Nationals, and NSDA Nationals.   This page will updated with information as it is released by the state and national organizations of MSHSAA, NSDA, and NCFL. 

Contact information for the regional coordinators for these organizations can be found below. 

RUNNING UPDATES

3/31/2020
NSDA has officially "cancelled" the 2020 NSDA National Tournament in Albuquerque, NM.  However, they are planning to offer an online version of the tournament.  Official statement linked right. 

3/30/2020
EastMO NSDA released a brief update about the National Qualification bid process (linked right).

3/23/2020
Jefferson County and St. Charles County issue a "stay at home" order effective 12:01 am Tuesday, 3/24/2020.

St. Louis City and St. Louis County school districts extend closure through 4/22/2020. 

3/21/2020
St. Louis City and St. Louis County issue a "stay at home" order effective 12:01 am Monday, 3/23/2020. 

State of Missouri issues a "social distancing" order effective 12:01 am Monday, 3/23/2020.

3/20/2020
NCFL has cancelled the Grand National Tournament scheduled to be held in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

The EastMO Forensics community launched a support page as students, coaches, and teachers adapt to online learning.  www.eastmoforensics.com/support

Mexico School District announced schools will be closed March 20 - April 13.

3/18/2020
EastMO NSDA released an updated (linked right) about plans moving forward for selecting NSDA National Qualifiers.

3/16/2020
MSHSAA has released a statement officially cancelling the 2020 Speech, Debate, and Theatre State Championship Tournament.

NSDA notified District Committees that, given the CDC guidelines released Sunday evening, they will NOT allow any NSDA District Tournaments to reschedule.  The EastMO NSDA Committee is evaluating options provided by the NSDA and will be in touch with member schools in the next few days.

NCFL provided an update via their website.

Jefferson City Schools, Ste. Genevieve Schools, and Jackson School District announced they will be closed March 18 - April 3.  Columbia Public Schools announced they will be closed March 18 - April 13.

3/15/2020
Virtually all schools in the St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County,  and Jefferson County areas have announced they will close March 18th through April 3rd.  Schools in Jefferson City, Columbia, and Mexico appear to be staying open for the time being.

3/13/2020
The NSDA released a statement and has suspended all NSDA District Tournaments.  The District Committee will receive instructions from the NSDA on Monday, March 17.  EastMO NSDA schools will be updated after that.

MSHSAA released a statement indicating that all Spring activities are going ahead as scheduled, BUT that frequent monitoring of their website is needed due to a fluid situation.  MSHSAA Speech, Debate & Theatre State is, at this point, going ahead as scheduled.

NCFL released a statement indicating that the NCFL Grand National Tournament is, at this time, still going ahead as scheduled but with significantly delayed registration deadlines.

3/11/2020
The Eastern Missouri NSDA District Tournament has been cancelled.  Please see statement linked to the right.

3/9/2020
​The Eastern Missouri NSDA District Committee is closely monitoring reports about the spread of COVID-19/Coronavirus in St. Louis.  This situation could impact the upcoming events:
  • EastMO NSDA Speech & Debate Districts in March
  • MSHSAA Speech, Debate, and Theatre State Championship in April
  • ​NCFL National Tournament in May
  • NSDA National Tournament in June

As of 3/9/2020, our focus is the impact on the EastMO NSDA Speech & Debate District Tournament scheduled for March 12 - 14, 2020 at Parkway West and Pattonville High Schools.

As of now, this tournament is still continuing as normal.  Statements released by the District Committee will be posted to the right shortly after being emailed to head coaches.   The statement on 3/9/2020 has information about how the Committee is actively monitoring the situation and our current course of action.  

You can also find additional resources about staying safe and healthy.

The health of our students and coaches is at the heart of every decision made by the District Committee.

STATEMENTS & RELEASES

WHO TO CONTACT

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

IMPORTANT NOTE

Press releases and statements from MSHSAA, NSDA, and NCFL are checked daily Monday through Friday.  Information will be reposted and/or "linked to" from this page as quickly as possible.  The top of this page has a "last updated" date which will indicate the most recent check for statements or press releases.

In most cases at this point in the year, the local coordinators are relaying information only; the decision making process is being conducted at the state and national level.
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Created in 2019, this website is a collaborative, community-based project.  Creation, maintenance, and updates are handled by a small group of volunteers from the EastMO NSDA District Committee, the GSL Board of Directors, and the MSHSAA District #4 Committee.  Parts of the website are going to be more developed than others.  We welcome your feedback about broken links, improper formatting, or missing information!  Use the "About this website" link to learn more and how you can help us make this a better resource for coaches, teachers, students, and judges!