More Judges Sought For DDF Regional

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Created on Tuesday, 21 January 2025 14:33

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe High school coaches are looking to complete the list of volunteer judges for the Region V drama, debate and forensics championships at Sitka High Friday and Saturday.
    “We definitely need debate judges,” said Amy Ainslie, who along with Christian Litten coaches the Sitka High team. She said volunteer sign-ups are generally going well, but more judges are needed for some speech and acting categories.
    No experience is needed, and judges generally seem to enjoy the experience, she said.
    “We always hear from those who do the judging, how impressed they are by the kids,” Ainslie said. “Whether they’re hearing how well the kids are performing a scripted piece, or a piece they’ve written themselves. ... It gives the judges a new light on how hard the kids are working, and how they’re grasping current events in the world around them.”
    The debate category is one of the most difficult to recruit judges for, because volunteers tend to be intimidated and believe they need experience or some level of expertise in the subject, the coach said.
    But she said training and online resources are available for returning and first-time debate judges, and that one of the challenges for debaters is to make their topics and their arguments accessible to anyone.
    “Their job is to take a complex topic and make it understandable for the general public,” Ainslie said.
    This year’s topic for regional and state debate competition this year is: “Resolved: The United States should accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
    Ainslie, who was a state debate finalist during her years at Sitka High, said the topic has been a challenging and interesting one for this year’s debaters.
    The main challenges have been “having to learn more about international law, and what it does, as well as its limitations, and coupling that in with modern day geopolitical dynamics,” she said.
    It’s been a successful season so far for both the Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe debaters, with four meets under their belts, and potentially two to go if they qualify for state championships, to be held Feb. 27-March 1 in Anchorage.
    After this weekend’s meet, coaches will be forming their state teams of up to 15 competitors. There are also limits on the number of entries per event from each school.
    Ainslie said there’s an exciting rule change this year that applies to smaller schools, which means Blatchley eighth graders are now allowed to compete for Sitka High.
    Workshops for judges will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at the Sitka High library, and with a Zoom meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday. “We can email you the Zoom recording if you can’t make either of those times,” Ainslie said.
    Parents of DDF competitors provide food for judges for the two days of competition.
    Members of the public are welcome to watch the final debate 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Performing Arts Center. Command Performances, pieces selected by judges and coaches, also will be performed that night. Ainslie said the audience can expect to see Sitka and Edgecumbe students in the command performances.
    The link for judging can be reached from the Sitka High Facebook page, or by calling Sitka High debate coach Christian Litten at 907-738-5869.