The Debate World Loses One of It's Best

Dr. Scott "Duck" Deatherage died this Christmas morning.  Those of you familiar with college debate or have watched Resolved may remember him.  He was widely known as the best college debate coach in the country, winning 7 NDT titles while coaching at Northwestern.  He had recently taken over as the Executive Director of the National Urban Debate League.  To say he will be missed is an understatement.

Chicago Tribune Article

Camacho-Stephens Break to Out Rounds at UT Longhorn Classic

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens (CS) came very close to earning their second TOC bid at the University of Texas Longhorn Classic. The two won their first five rounds before losing their only preliminary round to the Kincaid School..  CS then advanced to the Double Octo Finals and eliminated Jenks High School from the competition. 

CS lost to St. Mark's-MB in Octos.  CS finished in the top 10 and their only losses came against the first place team (Kincaid) and second place team (St. Mark's).  Eddie and Charlie continue to build a convincing portfolio for an invitation to the Barkley Forum, NDCA Nationals and an at-large TOC bid (if necessary).  They have now competed in 5 TOC tournaments.  They have a winning record in all 5, have advanced to elimination rounds in 4 of the 5 and have earned one bid to the TOC.

Camacho and Stephens will next compete on the TOC circuit at the Golden Desert Classic in January.

Law Magnet Draws and Quarters South Garland Competition

The Judge Barefoot Sanders Debate Team continues to excel on the local TFA circuit.  Competing at the South Garland Southern Classic, the team advanced one VCX team and one VLD to Quarter-Finals.

Colton Donica and Lucy Pina went undefeated in the prelim's and earned the #2 seed.  They advanced to Quarter-Finals where they fell to Colleville.  According to the unofficial results posted on the TFA website, the team earned their first 2 points towards TFA state.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman continued her incredible run of breaking at local TFA tournaments.  She defeated her opponent in Octo-Finals and advanced to Quarters where she faced Megha Motgi from Hockaday.  The panel was split, with the 2-1 decision narrowly going to Hockaday.  Nevertheless, Kelsey earned an additional two points toward TFA state.  She now has 9 points, just one shy of qualifying.

BAREFOOT DEBATERS SCALP COMPETITION AT WARRIORS WEEKEND

The judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet debate team dominated the competition at the Williams Warriors' Weekend Debate tournament in Plano, Texas.

The policy squad closed out finals. The teams of Eddie Camacho & Charlie Stephens and Brittany Williams & Zavier Wingham shared Co-Champions of the VCX tournament. The squad also "closed out" best speaker awards with Brittany, Eddie and Charlie earning 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Best Speaker awards respectively. Emilio Lozano & Rolando Velasquez also finished 3-1 and narrowly missed the cut to Semi-Finals by 4/10ths of a speaker point. They finished 5th.

In the Varsity LD pool, Harvey Luna earned his first TFA points by breaking to Octos.

In all, the team collected seven trophies.

KELSEY ANNU-ESSUMAN BREAKS @ HOCKADAY

Kelsey Annu-Essuman broke to elimination rounds in VLD at the Hockaday tournament this past weekend. Kelsey won her Double-Octo round to advance to Octos and earn two additional points towards TFA State Qualification. When the results become official, Kelsey will have amassed 7 of her 10 points.

3 Top 10's @ UNT Debate Tournament

The Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet Debate team had 3 Top Ten finishes this weekend. Colton Donica and Lucero Pina finished tied for 9th place in Varsity CX. In the Varsity LD competition, Kelsey Annu-Essuman broke to "out rounds" again. This time finishing ninth and earning an additional TFA point. Karla Brother-Lopez and Ivan Garcia became the first Novice CX team to make it to the elimination rounds. They amassed an impressive 4-1 record in the prelims and also finished tied for ninth.

Harvey Luna also competed as a cross-over entry in VLD as a last minute substitute. Competing in his first ever VLD debate tournament, Harvey competed in a break round. He only missed breaking by dropping a very close round to one of the Hockaday girls who closed out the tournament. We shouldn't be surprised if he breaks next week at the Hockaday tournament.

Finally, I would like to thank Zavier Wingham and Sarah Delgado for all their help in coordinating between the widely scattered buildings at the tournament.

Johnson RIngs LD BELL in Out Rounds

Glynesha Johnson helped keep the Law Magnet streak of consecutive out rounds alive by breaking to the Quarter Finals at LD Bell this weekend. Johnson continues to improve as she has now advanced to elimination rounds three times this year.

Eddie & Charlie win TOC bid at St. Mark's

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens (CS) continue to break new ground. The team became the first debaters in Law Magnet history to earn a bid to the Tournament of Champions (TOC). The TOC is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious individual debate tournaments.

CS finished preliminary rounds with a 4-2 record after winning a must-win 6th round. They then went out to defeat Pembroke Hill VH, the #8 seed in the bracket.

Law Magnet Wraps up TFA Spots @ Plano West

The Law Magnet had two Varsity CX teams qualify for the TFA state tournament with their performance at the Plano West Tournament. Eddie Camacho & Charlie Stephens went undefeated through the prelims and claimed the 2nd Seed. Brittany Williams and Zavier Wingham had one loss in the prelims and secured the 5th Seed. Both teams advanced to semis and garnered enough points to qualify to TFA state. This is the earliest we have had two teams qualify.

Congrats to both teams.

Parent's Meeting - Oct. 12 @ 7PM in Room 212

Please remember to tell your parents about the Parent's Meeting, Monday, October 12 @ 7PM. We will discuss the full debate calendar in order to request final approval from DISD for all upcoming tournaments. I will also discuss the value of debate, concerns about grades, travel guidelines, and summer debate institutes.

Law Magnet Gains TFA Ground at GP

The Law Magnet gained significant TFA points at the Grand Prairie tournament.

Brittany Williams and Zavier Wingham (WW) finished in 3rd Place in Varsity CX. They finished prelims undefeated and as the #1 Seed. WW earned 4 additional points bringing their total to 6.

Also breaking in VCX were Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens who advanced to partial octos.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman continues to shine. She has now advanced to "out rounds" at every local TFA tournament she has entered. This week she advanced to quarters by defeating one of Hockaday's top debaters. Kelsey has accumulated half of the necessary points to qualify to TFA state.

The novice squad continues to excel. Glyneisha Johnson broke for the second week in a row.

Efrain Vera and David Webb (VW) dominated the Novice CX field through prelims and finished 3rd. Their undefeated run ended on 2-1 split ballot decision in the semi-finals against St. Marks.

CS Breaks to Quarters at Memorial

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens continued their pursuit of a TOC bid at Houston Memorial High School. They advanced to quarters and once again missed a bid on a 2-1 split decision. While these results were disappointing, they demonstrate CS is on the right track. On a positive note, the team picked up TFA points and should get TFA qualified next week at Grand Prairie where they won last year.

Their next TOC tournament is St. Mark's in a few weeks.

Two More Debaters with TFA Points!

TFA has just released an update of their points system. Under the new retroactive point system, debaters breaking to double octos in which there are more than 75 entries earn a point. This means Kelsey and Keyonna earned points for both Plano Sr. and Southlake.

Keep up the good work.

Novice Barefoot Debaters Storm Smith while Varsity Squad Scores Points

Zavier Wingham and Brittany Williams finished in 5th Place in Varsity CX and earned their first TFA points. Kelsey Annu-Essuman who broke at her 3rd tournament and finished 9th. She now has 3 TFA points.

The Velasquez twins also "got their revenge" by going 2-2 and debating in two difficult break rounds.

Twelve novice debaters in both NLD and NCX competed at their first tournament this weekend at Newman Smith. Debating NLD were Nora Garza, Sterling Hopkins, Glyneisha Johnson and Yastril Nanez. Glyneisha broke to quarters and earned the first novice trophy of the year, finishing 5th Place. Yastril finished 3-1 and missed breaking by 2 speaker points.

Debating in NCX were Mike Garcia-Selena Yanez, David Webb-Efrain Vera, Karla Brother-Lopez & Ivan Garcia and Angela Gonzalez-Ruben Howard.

Next week the team will compete at Grand Prairie.

Grapevine Results

The Law Magnet debate team had a respectable showing at the Grapevine Classic. Eddie and Charlie finished 3-2 and missed breaking by 1.5 speaker points. Brittany and Zavier unveiled their new "project" affirmative with some positive results. One judge (and even one of their opponent teams) commented they were mesmerized by the melodic approach.

The sophomore LD'rs continue to excel as all went 2-3.

This week the team returns to its local TFA schedule at Newman Smith while Eddie and Charlie travel to Houston Memorial in pursuit of their first TOC bid.

Law Magnet Breaks New Ground @ Greenhill

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens (CS) established a new landmark in Law Magnet debate team lore this weekend by breaking at the Greenhill Classic.

CS advanced to the elimination rounds in pursuit of their first TOC bid. They missed earning a bid by one ballot as they fell to Coppell KD on a 2-1 decision. Nevertheless, the 17th place finish is the best performance by a Law Magnet team at Greenhill which is considered one the three most competitive tournaments in the nation.

The team's strong finish indicates they are on the path to the TOC.

Kelsey Breaks @ Southlake

Kelsey Annu-Essuman broke to double-octos at the Southlake Carroll TFA Debate Tournament. This is the second week in a row she has qualified to elimination rounds. Kelsey is setting a new standard for first year varsity debaters at the Law Magnet.

Her next challenge (and the rest of the squad) will take place at the Grapevine Classic next week. Grapevine is a TOC qualifying tournament and will host some of the best debate schools in the US.

Law Magnet Lassos Points @ Plano Sr.

Charlie Stephens and Eddie Camacho plowed through prelims going undefeated. After winning in quarters, the team finished in 3rd and earned the first TFA points of the season.

Two of our new varsity LD debaters broke at their first ever varsity tournament: Kelsey Annu-Essuman and Keyonna Hall.

Congrats to them for a very successful weekend.

Next week...Greenhill & Southlake!

September/October NFL LD Topic Announced

The new topic is:

2009 September/October Topic

Resolved: Public high school students in the United States ought not be required to pass standardized exit exams to graduate.

To discuss on our wiki click here. You will only be able to post topic analysis if you had previously registered on the wiki. I will be posting my early thoughts in the next few days.

Anyone who discussed this at camp and has evidence should send an email out to all with a copy of that evidence.

iDebate iTunes Application Review

This application may be downloaded to your iPhone or iTouch. The best features in my opinion are the judge paradigms, the timer (all debate formats) and the break calculator. Best of all it is FREE.

Click iDebate to download.

Law Magnet Name Changed

I just found out the school board voted this summer to change our school name to:

Judge Barefoot Sanders Magnet Center For Public Service: Government, Law and Law Enforcement at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center.

This is to honor Judge Sanders who died last year. He actually came and taught the debate class the year before he died. We have letter from him in our courtroom and a picture of him with our students on the back of our recruiting pamphlets.

Judge Sanders was the judge who primarily oversaw the desegregation order which created the magnet schools in Dallas.

Ryan Ricard's Blog

Ryan coached at the Law Magnet for a couple of years and was responsible for introducing us to Jessie Stellmach too. He is a very good CX coach and has a humorous way of explaining things. You should enjoy reading his blog for insight into debating and his views on the topic.

Ryan's Blog

Mean Green Debate Workshops Closing Video

Check out the MGW closing video. Many images of Law Magnet debaters

Law Magnet Makes a Splash at Mean Green Workshops Tournament

Congrats to Zavier (aka the Ninja), Lucy and Ryan Stoker for breaking in the Mean Green Workshops end of camp tournament.

Congrats! Class of 2009

Today we saw the graduation of five of our debaters.  

Juan Hernandez will be attending St. Mary's University in San Antonio next year.

Jackie Rios will be attending the University of Maine.

Crystal Williams will be attending Amherst College near Boston.

Feysel Abdulkaf will be attending St. Louis University in St. Louis.

Sarah Delgado will be attending and debating for the University of North Texas.  

While each of you had your varied degrees of success in the debate rounds you all left a memorable impact on the squad.  All of you demonstrated various degrees and forms of leadership. I look forward to seeing your continued growth.

Give back when you can and remember you have been given much and much is still expected.

Mr. G

Law Magnet Debate Awards - Part 1: Seniors

This past Friday the seniors gathered with friends and family to celebrate their four years at the Law Magnet and to recognize each other's accomplishments.

The Debate Team has traditionally only given out one award at this ceremony - The Order of the Gavel. This award commemorates the debater who most exemplified leadership and service. The award recognizes the principle of LEGACY - leaving behind a better place than when you arrived. While the award is not technically a "senior" award, it has only been awarded to a non-Senior once. This year we had another first - the award went to two debaters: Jackie Rios and Crystal Williams.

Jackie and Crystal played a critical role in working with the novice LD debaters this year. I had to lean on them more than I normally would because of my grad school schedule. They stepped up to the task by producing five (5) very competitive and successful NLD'rs. Each of the NLD'rs broke at least at one tournament and all debated on the varsity circuit by the end of the year. Thanks to the efforts of Jackie and Crystal, the future looks bright for the LD squad.

Congrats girls! and good luck at Maine and Amherst.

UIL Regionals

Z, the twins, Harvey, Jackie and Lucy all competed at the Regional UIL Spring Meet this past weekend.  While the results were not what we would have liked, we all had a good time.  We had a chance after all the competitions to visit the old Dr. Pepper Museum and eat old style ice cream (Blue Bell) and Dr. Pepper floats.

I am confident we will all be back next year with a larger crew.

NDCA Championships - Day 1

The Law Magnet's involvement in NDCA Championships got off to a bumpy start. Literally.

We met at Love Field Airport at 8:30AM, checked in all the luggage, including the tubs without any problems. We were not only on time, we were ahead of schedule. We all had time to grab a bite of breakfast before loading the plane. That's when things started to unravel.

Thanks to Stacey's efforts we all had boarding passes in the first group. We were all able to secure desired seats with each other. Shortly after receiving instructions on take off procedures, the pilot came on over the intercom and informed us a huge thunderstorm was moving in rapidly and that air traffic control had just placed all planes on HOLD at their gates. The storm hit and we waited. We sat in the plane for over an hour when were finally told the storm had sufficiently cleared. Again we were instructed on take off procedures when the pilot came on again and informed us that we were now on HOLD because FAA regulations restricted grounds crew from working during lightening. Another thirty minutes waiting in the hot plane.

Again we were instructed on take off procedures when the pilot came on for a third time. "I know this is getting old," he said, "but I regret to inform you that engine number two will not start." Now, I am thinking we are going to have to de-plane and find another plane and reboard without our original order. In other words we would get stuck sitting wherever. Nope. Instead, we are told to hold on and the plane mechanics would work on the engine. Nearly forty-five minutes later the pilots comes on again and says we are finally ready to go - IN THE SAME PLANE! We are going to fly the same plane that less than an hour before had a failed engine.

I began praying my Rosary. We made it to the run way and took off. Would we stay in the air? The entire flight to Amarillo was tortuous. Turbulence was unbelievable. The plane was being tossed back and forth. At one point the plane dropped what seemed like hundreds of feet. I was beginning to think twice about taking this trip. Finally, we arrived in Amarillo and picked up additional passengers en route to Vegas. The remainder of the flight was slightly turbulent, but clearer skies as we approached the Grand Canyon.

We DID make it safely to Las Vegas, allbeit nearly 4 hours late. We still made registration in time and cut some new arguments before lights out.