2008-2009 Season Begins With New Rubric, New Leagues
The MSPDP is beginning its seventh year with a number of exciting changes. The Independent Schools Debate League (ISDL) has split into two new leagues, the Pacific Coast Debate League (PCDL) and the Golden State Debate League (GSDL). These leagues serve public, private, and charter schools in the Los Angeles metro area. Also, we are pleased to announce a program-wide switch to our new rubric for assigning individual points in competitive debates. Read all about the new rubric here, and download a copy here.
Grant For Great Energy Debate
Schools in the desert regions of Southern California will debate a series of energy topics in the 2008-2009 school year, thanks to a generous grant from the A+ for Energy program, sponsored by BP America. The $10,000 grant will go to James Workman teacher Kelley Bieringer to support middle and high school debating in the region. Read more.
Call for Schools: California
Due to substantial demand, the MSPDP is expanding existing leagues and creating new leagues all over California. In particular, schools from the Bay Area, Coachella Valley, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, or Stockton are invited to join the program for 2008-2009. Interested schools should contact John Meany (john.meany@cmc.edu) or Kate Shuster (kate.shuster@cmc.edu).
Weingart Grant to Create New League -Schools Wanted in Los Angeles
The MSPDP and Claremont McKenna College have received a grant from the Weingart Foundation to expand programming in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on schools in Northeast LA and surrounding communities. Read about this exciting expansion.
Interested teachers should contact MSPDP Director Kate Shuster: kate.shuster@claremontmckenna.edu.
Order Form for DVD Resources
The MSPDP has five sample debates currently available online. It's easier than ever to order these debates for viewing in class or club meetings - just download our new order form.
Be
a Better Debate Judge: Visit Our New Online Ballot-Writing
Manual
All debate judges work hard to give students good
feedback and maximize learning. Although all MSPDP judges
reveal decisions and provide substantial feedback at tournaments,
judges must also fill out a ballot to help students and their
coaches remember what happened in particular debates, and
learn more about how to debate. We've put up a new dynamic
page to help judges learn to write
better ballots. Visit
the page
MSPDP Teachers' Guide Available
for Download
All of the MSPDP "Starter" materials
for teachers are now available in one place for easy
download by teachers, parents, and administrators.
This color booklet includes advice for organizing a
team, complete instruction in the MSPDP format, information
about topic selection, and advice about teaching basic
debating skills. The guide is aligned to accompany
the official MSPDP textbook, Speak Out! Debate
and Public Speaking in the Middle Grades (available
on Amazon.com), and accompanies orders for our sample
debate on DVD or VHS. The guide is available in our
"Resources" section, or by clicking here.
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