Vox Rationis Savannah Speech & Debate Club 2015-2016 Information
Vox Rationis Savannah is FEFC’s very own speech and debate club. The purpose of the club is to prepare students to compete in the speech and debate tournaments sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
(NCFCA).
NCFCA is a national Christian homeschool organization that believes
“that formal speech and debate can provide a means for homeschooled students to learn and exercise analytical and oratorical skills, addressing life issues
from a biblical worldview in a manner that glorifies God”.
Who may join Vox Rationis Savannah?
*Homeschooled students
*Members of FEFC
*Between ages of 13 and 18 on September 1, 2015
Requirements
*Each family must join (“affiliate”) with NCFCA by September 15, 2015.
*Each student is required to attend a practice or qualifying tournament with a parent.
*Students are to maintain a notebook and print off weekly assignments.
*A parent is to participate in certain scheduled meetings.
How much does it cost?
*Family affiliation with NCFCA is $100 before September 15 th . (www.ncfca.org)
*No cost to participate in Vox Rationis Savannah; costs are contained by requiring students to print off their weekly assignments at home.
When do we meet?
*Mondays – Speech meets 1-3, Debate meets 3-4. We end promptly at 4:00.
*16 regular meetings during the fall and winter starting August 31 st . We will not meet on Labor Day. We will suspend weekly meetings during spring tournament season.
*Additional meetings “as needed” during the tournament season.
Where do we meet?
At the home of the Mullins’ family, 1950 Turners Rock Road, which is between
Whitemarsh Island and Wilmington Island in Savannah.
What speech and debate events are available?
NCFCA offers two styles of debate (Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas Debate) and eleven individual speech events. Students may compete in whichever events they

prefer, but this year we will be focusing on five speech events and Lincoln
Douglas Debate.
Meet our assistant coach – Nathaniel Mullins
Nathaniel Mullins (class of 2014) will be helping to coach Lincoln Douglas classes remotely from Patrick Henry College, where he is attending on a debate scholarship.
Nathaniel placed 6 th nationally in debate in 2013, won 1 st Place at the Jacksonville
Qualifier in 2014, and won many other awards in speech and debate during his fouryear career in NCFCA. Nathaniel took a gap year in 2014-2015 and taught in a mission school in Japan for ten months. He is also a contributing author to Monument
Publishing’s Red Book (a sourcebook for LD debaters).
Types of Events
1.
Debate – a.
Team Policy Debate b.
Lincoln Douglas Debate
2.
Platform speeches – a.
Persuasive b.
Informative c.
Illustrated oratory d. Biographical narrative
3.
Limited preparation speeches a.
Impromptu b.
Apologetics c.
Extemporaneous
4.
Interpretive events – “creatively explore and develop the intellectual, emotional, and artistic embodiment of a single piece of literature for performance”. These events appeal to “theatrical” students. a.
Duo b.
Open c.
Original interpretation d.
Biblical interpretation (new category this year; rules will be posted soon.)
Two Tracks will be offered:
Novice – beginner students who have not yet competed in a qualifying tournament.
Varsity – students who have competed in a qualifying tournament and whose parent served as a judge in a qualifying tournament.
Dress Code:
Club Meetings – modest attire, business casual preferred. Prefer no jeans or tshirts.
Tournaments- a. Gentlemen: Gentlemen shall wear suits or sport coats with dress slacks, together with a dress shirt and tie. (And dress shoes, too!) b. Ladies: Modesty is the key and may include suits, dresses, and skirts with

hemlines to the middle of the knee. Tight-fitting/low-cut clothing is inappropriate.
Midriff must remain covered when gesturing in speeches.
Tournament information
Georgia is in Region 8, which includes Florida and South Carolina.
Tournament schedule:
1.
Fall- Students write speeches, learn interpretive pieces, and research debate arguments.
2.
Early Winter – Students polish their speeches and attend practice tournaments.
Practice tournaments typically last one day.
3.
Winter/Spring – Students compete in “qualifying tournaments”. Club meetings are suspended during this time because of the time demands of competition.
At a tournament:
The first day is a half-day used for orientation, judge training, and script submission.
The second and third days are filled with competition. The fourth day is semi-finals and finals and the award ceremony.
Debaters will debate six times, three times as “Affirmative” and three times as
“Negative”. Those who have a winning record will advance to “Outrounds”. Then the debate teams will be paired in elimination rounds.
In speech events (called Individual Events or IE), each student will compete in three rounds of speech. In each round, the speaker will compete against seven other students. Three judges will rank these students from one to eight. Those students with the best ranks will advance to semi-finals.
Tournaments are judged by parents, alumni, and community volunteers. NCFCA emphasizes a conversational style of debate and real-world communication skills.
Qualifying tournaments
NCFCA sponsors four regional qualifying tournaments and three “national opens”. The tournaments last 3 ½ days. Tournaments are usually Wednesday afternoon through
Saturday night. In our region, tournaments are often held in Orlando, FL, Columbia,
SC, and Jonesboro, GA. The 2016 locations have not yet been announced. The 2015
National Opens will be held in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Students who place in qualifying tournaments advance to the Regional Invitational, and then to the National Championship.
Other expenses
There are other expenses involved in participation in NCFCA tournaments. These include tournament attire, travel costs, registration fees, hotels, and food. There are

creative ways to trim the expenses. NCFCA offers need-based scholarships. Guest housing is often available. Meals may be packed instead of purchased. Most debaters I know find terrific suits at thrift shops and have them professionally altered. Also hotel and traveling expenses may be shared with other members of the club.
Student obligations
Students are expected to attend class with completed homework.
They are expected to write and deliver speeches and/or debate briefs, to listen to others’ speeches, and to deliver constructive feedback. Club time is a wonderful time to encourage one another and build one another up in our faith.
Parent obligations
Parents are not required to attend regular meetings, but it is recommended. Younger siblings may also attend so long as they are not disruptive.
A parent will be required to attend a few special meetings when students will be performing their speeches or practicing debates. Feedback is so valuable for our students!
A parent is also required to attend either a practice tournament or a
qualifying tournament with the student. At the tournament, the parent will serve as a judge. The value of this can not be underestimated! It is not only important because it gives the parent a close-up look at what competitive speech and debate is all about, but also because it will inspire both parent and student alike to see what these
Christian young people are doing to glorify God through speech and debate!
If you would like to see what speech events look like, I recommend viewing these videos on Youtube.com:
1. NCFCA 2014 Cody Dedon After Dinner Speaking
2. Carr/Shaffer 2014 NCFCA Duo “The Sound of Music”
3. Shope/Shope NCFCA Duo “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins”
4. Emily Rose NCFCA After Dinner Speech “The NCFCA Experience”
5. NCFCA 2013 National Humorous Interp – Cody Dedon
6. NCFCA 2013 National Duo Interp – Lutsko/Lutsko
7. NCFCA 2013 Apologetics – Audrey Parke
8. NCFCA 2013 National Extemp Champ – RJ Martin
9. NCFCA Nat’l 2009 1 st Place Persuasive, Nassir Aboreden
10. Homeschool Illustrated Oratory Speech – Caffeine
11. 1 st Place Humorous Interpretation 2012, Nat’l Champ Cody Dedon
12. NCFCA 2012 Nat’l Champ Open Interp Ben Keessee “Homer Price”
13. NCFCA Nat’l 2010 Clayton/Clayton duo “Cheaper by the Dozen”
14. NCFCA Extemporaneous 2011 Brooke Wade

Other examples from the National Championship are available at http://www.ncfca.org/what-we-do/speech-and-debate-competition/speech/
To REGISTER: Complete the Registration form available on fefconline.com and either
1. Scan it and email it to cyndiruth@comcast.net
2. Mail it to Cyndi Mullins at 1950 Turners Rock Road, Savannah, GA 31410
3. Fill it out and bring it to the information meeting on August 15 th at the FEFC Kick off
Meeting.
Registration deadline is September 15, 2015. First meeting is August 31, 2015.