Iowa Forensics League
Introduction
Hello, my name is Joe Rankin, and I am the head speech and debate coach at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Since I started teaching in Bettendorf in 2005, I have been honored to work with many talented high school students through participation in National Forensic League and Iowa Forensic League competitions. My own experience with high school speech and debate competitions goes back to my junior year at Davenport West High School. Since 1997, I have been a part of the speech and debate community. Today, I hope to help expand that world a bit to include more individuals: namely, middle school students.
Middle school speech and debate is not a new concept in Iowa: Timothy Sheaff from Dowling Catholic High School started the trend 10 years ago by hosting a Middle School event at Dowling. Each year, the event has grown and it is my hope the information contained in this packet will help facilitate that growth further.
I believe the future of Iowa forensics depends on the development of middle school programs. If you think about it, virtually every other high school activity has a feeder program at the middle school level. If you want to play varsity basketball competitively in high school, you need to have experience with the game prior to arriving. The same principle holds true for speech and debate – if we can help prepare our students at a younger age, they will be better competitors at the high school level and will be more likely to join/continue participating because of their previous exposure.
In order to make the vision of increased middle school participation a reality, I am putting together a guide to starting middle school speech and debate programs. The information can be utilized by high schools as well, but my hope is to spur some growth at the middle school level. I hope the information is helpful to you and I hope to see your students at competitions throughout the year. Thank you.
Joe Rankin
Bettendorf High School