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Rock On! Debate #1

In part one of a multiple-part Into to Policy series, Cheyenne East Policy Debate Coach Jeff Pope breaks down Policy to the most basic of parts to show how the debate works and really is not as intimidating and scary as we may have believed.

Rock On! Debate is a One Clap Speech and Debate Podcast that is a source for quick tips, hacks, resources, and rocking support to help inspire and assist Debaters.  

If you have any ideas or requests for topics to explore on Rock On! Debate, shoot Lyle an email at [email protected] or check out our blog and social media here:
One Clap Blog: https://lylewiley.wixsite.com/oneclapblog
Facebook: @oneclappodcast
Instagram: @one_clap_podcast

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the One Clap Podcast!  Watch for new episodes of One Clap, Rock On! Debate, Coach Connection, and Speech Love!

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2020 graduate, Mack Kramer finished their senior year strong as Wyoming State Champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and then finished eleventh in Commentary at the National Tournament.   The Rock Springs Tiger came on the One Clap Podcast to open up Season Two and talk to Lyle about how they made the leap from novice-to-dangerous-debater in just one year.

Mack is a walking example of resiliency.  Throughout Mack's Speech and Debate competitive days at Rock Springs High School, they have had plenty of successes, but the story of Mack's rise from LD filler at the District Tournament last year to LD State Champion and National Qualifier to close out their senior year is epic. 

Mack spoke about the way they took their debate skills to the next level (one primary approach involves reflective journaling practice), their experience at the National Tournament (spoiler: Mack finished eleventh in Commentary at Nats!), their plans for the future, and their love for the Wyoming Speech and Debate community.

Thanks so much to Mack for their generosity in sharing their powerful story and ideas.

If you have questions, suggestions, or ideas for the One Clap Podcast, shoot Lyle an email at [email protected] or check out our blog and social media here:
One Clap Blog: https://lylewiley.wixsite.com/oneclapblog
Facebook: @oneclappodcast
Instagram: @one_clap_podcast

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the One Clap Podcast!  Watch for new episodes of One Clap, Rock On! Debate, Coach Connection, and Speech Love!

There are some exciting things in store for the next season of the One Clap Podcast which will start in August.  

The podcast will be a four headed monster in Season Two.  The main One Clap episodes will stay mostly the same with long form interviews with talented competitors and insightful coaches along with a couple of added segments.  New episodes will be integrated into the mix that will be shorter, informative, and skills-based.  These will be distributed in three types of episodes: Rock On Debate - which will feature debate based skills, Speech Love - which will focus on interpretative and platform skills, and Coach Connection - which will be concentrated on coaching helps and issues.

You aren’t going to want to miss it, and if you want to be a part of it - reach out to me via email at [email protected]!  

Be on the watch for these episodes in Season Two and much more:  

• Stephanie Cozzens, Jean-Luc Willson, and Darcy Mueller explained the ins and outs of World Schools Debate.
• LD State Champion Makayla Kramer talked about taking your debate skills to the next level.
• Two-time National staging Humor competitor, Connor Sears explained the benefits of college forensics.
• Justin Woolsey linked his love for speech and debate and film creation.  
• Josh Hansen told me about breaking into the top sixteen of the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series.Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen!

Special thank you to my beautiful and talented wife, Amie Wiley.  She did all of the design logo work for the podcast, and I'm super thrilled with the new work that she has done for season two.  Thank you, Amie!

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Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/oneclapspeechanddebate)

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Cheyenne East Speech and Debate competitor Jayden Roccaforte is just trying to help people find their smile and tell an impactful story.  The now senior Thunderbird capped off a fantastic season with a National Championship win in Dramatic Prose at the Online National Speech and Debate Tournament this summer.  Jayden shared his take on what makes an impactful story, his affinity to humor in performance and in life, his emotional response to his National victory, his goals for the future, and his hope for the future of the Wyoming Speech and Debate community.

After capturing the Wyoming State Championship in Humor, Jayden became only the sixth Wyoming competitor to capture a National Championship (see the list of Wyoming National Champions HERE) when he finished first in Dramatic Prose at Nationals.  In a year that really showcased the continued emergence of Wyoming competitors on the National scene, Jayden's victory was the pièce de résistance.    

On the season finale (Ep. 20) of The One Clap Podcast, I was joined several of Jayden's coaches, his family, and his teammates who helped provide more insight into what makes Jayden a special competitor and person.  Special thanks to Dionne Roccaforte, Marcus Viney, Allen Pino, Ashley Schulz, Saga McAllister, and Kambrie White.

Thank you especially to Jayden Roccaforte for sharing his thoughts and insights on the One Clap Pod.  Congratulations to Jayden on his National Championship!  If you haven’t had the opportunity to see his National Championship Dramatic Prose piece, find a link to the video below and check out the story that Jayden told so powerfully.  I can’t wait to see what Jayden comes up with for his senior season!

• To watch Jayden's Championship Prose performance of Barry Lyga's Bang, go HERE. Jayden's performance is at around 4:55:00.
• To watch Jackie Young announce Jayden as the 2020 Prose National Champion, go HERE.  Prose is announced at around 4:44:40.
• Even better: HERE are both in one youtube video!

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Former Torrington competitor, English-teacher-in-training, and good friend Bri Reeves Waddoups shared her fast and furious Speech and Debate experience, her thoughts on how to build a memorable character in interpretative pieces, and her advice for coaches and competitors to help find healthy ways to respond to students suffering baseline or situational anxiety.

Bri is a Torrington HS Speech and Debate alum, skilled dramatic performer, new parent with her husband Spencer (their little boy, Thomas, is now one and devastatingly cute), and near-graduate from the University of Wyoming. She needs only 21 credits to finish school, at which point she will have an English Lit Degree, a Minor in Religious Studies, an Honors Program Endorsement, and a Teaching Certification for secondary English.

Bri joined the Torrington Speech and Debate team her senior year and proceeded to immediately compete at a high level in five interpretive events. One of those events was a new event to the NSDA National scene - Program Oral Interpretation (POI).  Bri's POI that highlighted the dangers of eating disorders won her a bid to the National Tournament. She was the first Nationally Qualifying student I had the honor to coach (big time shout out to Assistant Coach Kelcie Hamilton McBride who was an enormous help during this time), and her success at the District Tournament really transformed the team competitively.  We all started to believe we were capable of so much more.

Thanks so much to Bri for her graciousness and willingness to share her story and ideas.  It is so important for coaches to put the health and safety of our student competitors at the forefront of all we do.  Student mental health is of paramount importance.  It isn’t always easy to talk about these issues, but the more we share our own stories and management strategies, the less stigma is attached to the real mental health struggles of so many others.

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Congratulations to all of the Wyoming Speech and Debate students who competed at the National Speech and Debate Tournament Online!  We are so proud of you!  See the top Wyoming competitor finishes (including State Champion in Prose - Jayden Roccaforte from Cheyenne East) in THIS blog post.

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I stand by the NSDA statement on George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.  I read the statement in full on this episode of the podcast. It is located HERE.

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Petra Van Court is a self-professed "true debate nerd" who qualified for Nationals in Policy Debate twice when she competed with Cheyenne East.  These days, Petra uses her debate knowledge and experience to help prep her students at Norman North HS while she attends school at the University of Oklahoma where she is finishing a Sociology degree.

Petra shared some of her debate chops on the One Clap Pod in a fun and interesting conversation.  She explained her take on Kritik (K) debate - how a "K" works, why it is sometimes effective, and why many of her debaters often choose to use the "K" in debates.  Petra also shared the story of her Speech and Debate journey, talked about how Lincoln-Douglas helped her improve as a Policy debater, and discussed ways that debate coaches can and should be an advocate for their students.  Psst, Petra also loves pretzels.

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Congratulations to all of the Wyoming Speech and Debate students who competed at the National Speech and Debate Tournament Online last week!  We are so proud of you!  HERE is the list of Wyoming students who broke to out rounds at Nats!

Check out all of the results from the National Speech and Debate Tournament HERE.

I stand by the NSDA statement on George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.  I read the statement in full on this episode of the podcast. It is located HERE.

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Award-winning performer and Kelly Walsh High School alumni Speech superstar Bailey Patterson stopped by the One Clap Podcast and shared her thoughts on the intersections of Speech and Debate and Drama, the many ways that Speech competition assists individuals in the performance world, the power of a cup of tea, and the humble beginnings of the Bailey and Lyle Film Podcast. 

It may be a bit of an understatement to say that Bailey Patterson has an impressive bio.  In addition to an intimidating Speech and Debate resume of accolades (including: Wyoming State Champion in Drama, Duo, and Poetry; three-time National Qualifier; National semi-finalist; and runner up in POI at the International Collegiate Speech and Debate Tournament in Vienna), Bailey's Drama honors are legion (including: seven Wyoming State Championships in theatre performance, two Irene Ryan nominations, a Mark Twain Comedy Acting Award for Best Collegiate Comedic Performer, a Jeff Lee Acting Award, and a Peter K. Simpson theatre scholarship).  Bailey is a tremendously talented performer.

Lyle was lucky to have Bailey come on the pod to dig into all of the ways that Speech and Debate and Drama collide and intersect.  She has some excellent insight into the many ways that Speech competition helps drama performers who want to excel in performance.  We had a lively and fun discussion - and I learned a whole lot from Bailey's experiences and perspectives. 

Bailey is currently a graduate student in Communication at the University of Wyoming.  She teaches Public Speaking to undergraduates and also performs as much as she is able.  She is hoping to audition to the Master of Fine Arts Performance and Pedagogy program so she can teach acting at the collegiate level in Wyoming.

Thank you so much to Bailey for appearing on the One Clap Podcast!

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I stand by the NSDA statement on George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.  I read the statement in full on this episode of the podcast. It is located HERE.

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Cheyenne East High School interpretative superstars, Coach Ashley Schulz and competitor (and recent graduate) Saga McAllister, joined Lyle on the One Clap Podcast to chat about Humor, finding the true heart of interpretative pieces, nailing a great online recorded performance, car dancing, the serious discrepancy between coach and student food privileges at tournaments, and much more. 

Ashley has been at Cheyenne East for a long time, both as a competitor and a coach - now for over twenty years.  Ashley has coached a number of excellent competitors - among them State Champions, National Finalists, even a National Champion.   One East colleague said about Ashley, “She gives as much care and attention to a brand-new novice as she does to a veteran competitor, and she’s always looking to better herself, or find some new way to help kids on the team.” She’s also, as we learn in the interview, a leader in the field of “car dancing.”  I saw her moves.  They were legit.

Saga competed for the Cheyenne East Speech and Debate Team for three years, and qualified for Nationals all three years.  She’ll be competing in POI next week at the National Tournament.  Saga was a finalist at MASQ this year with her fabulous poetry piece.  She earned a coveted Wyoming High School Forensics Ambassador Award for her commitment to the Speech and Debate community. Saga is impressive in many ways, but as her coaches wrote about her in her nomination letter for the ambassador award, “What makes Saga stand out from all the talented and kind students in the speech world, is her passion for the activity. For Saga, the trophies are nice, but she truly is an advocate for issues that she cares about.”

After geeking out together a bit, Ashley and Saga shared their Speech and Debate stories, talked about the popularity of Humor, discussed ways to get to the heart of an interpretative piece, shared the importance of mentorship and community, and talked about different approaches to online recorded events.  

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I stand by the NSDA statement on George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.  I read the statement in full on this episode of the podcast. It is located HERE.

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The coaches behind the individual events portion of the Wyoming State Speech and Debate Tournament join Lyle on the One Clap Pod to discuss the process and result of running the interpretative side of the Online State Speech and Debate Tournament in April.  Marcus Viney (Cheyenne East), Allen Pino (Cheyenne East) and Londe Gagnon (Jackson Hole) are the Dream Team. 

In a wide ranging episode of the One Clap Pod with the Dream Team, we discussed vital tracks for a Speech and Debate fire-up mixtape, recalled the planning process for the individual events side of the online State Tournament, reflected on how the tournament went live, shared what was learned from the process, and prognosticated about the future of online tournaments in Wyoming and beyond.  

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Here are some (hopefully) helpful links:

Londe, Viney, Pino Speech and Debate Spotify Playlist 

Wyoming Speech and Debate Facebook - @wyspeech - Check out the postings from the dates of the tournament on this page to see how we chose to communicate breaks into out rounds and announce awards.

One of Viney's Award Winning Short Videos (feat. Junebug) - This was part of our practice ten second video "tournament" that Viney absolutely dominated, and it features international superstar, Junebug the Pug.

A sample google document JUDGE ROOM.

Picture of part of the Judging Events Table Google Sheet.

Online Competition Tips for Nationals from the National Speech and Debate Association.

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A National Qualifying competitor at Newcastle and a former Assistant Coach at Torrington, Kinlee Whitney knows all about the impact that Speech and Debate can have on students' lives.  Kinlee jumped on One Clap to reminisce about the way this activity has impacted her life and reflect on how the broader Wyoming Speech and Debate community is one of love and support.

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