recent_emails

A few of you have expressed concern over the buses (and the fact that we’ve crammed a large population of kids on buses not meant for that many teenager-sized bodies…).

Here are the results of the conversation that I had with the bus garage people.

(Note to newer parents – In the past, I have had huge fights about busing because our budget for buses is low… And with more kids, I’m prepared for another year of boxing…)

You all know that I am ADAMANT about the whole We Are A Team and even though we compete in individual events and we are scored individually, We still Are A Team, and we do all that we can to help each other because We Are A Team. Part of being a team is riding the bus together and conspiring on the way to tournaments, then coming back on the bus together and rehashing the day together.

And we always – ALWAYS – stay for the final awards assembly even if our entire team did not have a single person in the final round. (I’ve never seen that happen – but my point is that we will ALWAYS stay for final awards unless you had a heart attack in your last round and the ambulance workers carry you out on a bed).

Unfortunately, I see that in the coming weeks, some things may need to be a little different in my utopian idea of a team.

For the Cal U tournament on 12/ 5 – we will have two buses in the morning and we will still all stay for the awards assembly. But on the way back, I’m asking that (again - after the awards ceremony), parents take their kids home AND a few others. We will only have one bus on the way home. IN ORDER TO TAKE OTHER CHILDREN HOME – I must have a note from the child’s parent that reads, “My son / daughter ______________________ is allowed to go home with Mr. / Mrs. _____________________ after the tournament on 12/5 at Cal U” with the signature of the parent. I NEED TO HAVE THIS ON THE WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY (12/2 or 3) SO THAT I CAN GET A PRINCIPAL TO SIGN OFF ON THIS. If you are driving your own child home, I do not need a note – I just need to see you leave with your child after the awards assembly.

I may ask you to do this for other tournaments in the future -

For Central, we are still gong to be miserable and squeeze into the bus. It’s still within – by far – the legal limit.

Also take note for the kids – this weekend is a memorial tournament for a man named Br. Rene Sterner who was a close friend. Please be very, very respectful of all that they do for him on Saturday.

Wednesday’s festival –

NAI – You get out of school at 1:45. The bus will pull away from the front of NAI at 1:50

NASH – You get out of school at 1:55. The bus will pull away from the NASH front at 2.

Dressy-casual = No jeans, no t-shirts, and no tennis shoes. You do NOT need to wear your suit.

We are going to pull out of the NC lot at 6 pm. In a traffic-free world, we would be at the NASH front at 6:30. Expect it to be more like 6:45.

They will have some junk food for sale.

And kids – make sure that your parents look at the judging schedule!

A few things - PLEASE READ ALL OF THESE -

1. We are NOT going to McDowell this weekend (for the long version of this story, see the asterisk below)
If you want to go to McDowell with a parent, you may do so. Your parent will need to judge. I will still register those who are interested as "North Allegheny." I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO DRIVE UP THERE BY TOMORROW AT 10 AM.

2. I'm working on trying to get someone (Probably Andrew) to chaperon you guys on 11/18 (Next Wednesday) for an after-school tournament at North Catholic (I can be there for most of the event - but the husband made plans for the family long ago and if I break them for a practice tournament, he will kill me...) (note - that was me being dramatic for those who don't know me very well - the husband is very tolerant of my love of forensics... we are getting our Christmas photos with the Zamboni that night... it feels even weirder when I put that in writing...). ASSUME THAT I WILL HAVE THE NECESSARY CHAPERON AND EMAIL ME RIGHT NOW IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THIS. Easy, easy points. It is casual-business-dress. No t-shirts or tennis shoes or jeans, but you also don't need suits)

3. We are going to host an after-school festival on Monday, 11/23. EVEN IF ONLY ONE OTHER SCHOOL COMES, WE WILL BE GOOD FOR NFL POINTS!!! (Bring $3 each to cover pizza. You'll be on your own for drinks. This is also casual-business-dress.

4. Don't forget that we're going to give Parlie a shot tomorrow after school for those who are interested.

5. Something not forensics related - Many of you on this list had me for calc last year (or the year before) - if you are interested in taking the AMC test, I need to know TODAY. (Colleges often ask for your highest AMC score - it's your chance to try to get a higher score...)

Now the long story for those who are interested -
1. We now need two buses for all of our kids
a. Buses are so expensive
b. Buses that go that far are even more expensive
2. Most schools in our district are not competing yet.
3. Only a few schools are going to the Erie tournaments. Only 3 schools are going to our other option - the U of Cal tournament. Cal U is also not close
4. We would need to buy almost $1000 in judges.
5. We would be competing against ourselves in almost all events, which I wouldn't mind doing if it weren't so expensive...
6. Even if only one other school comes to our festival, we will be able to get just as many - if not more - NFL points AND PRACTICE for when the other schools do start competing.

Make up parent meeting is on Nov 4 in room 322 from 7 till 8 pm. (Note – I will not arrive here till exactly 7 because of a conference that I have to attend)

Registrations are going to be posted once I have clearance from the officers about the students in each group. Once I post events and registrations, you are going to have to tell me (1) if you are placed in the wrong event even after the officers cleared it and (2) if you need to drop from any tournaments.

TOO MANY OF YOU DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR THE SATURDAY CONGRESS. DON’T JUST BLOW EVENTS OFF!!!

If you are wearing a black pants suit – girls and boys – wear black socks. Do not wear white socks.

For new people – we always have a group meeting before going to the cafeteria when we are at tournaments.

Big team meeting on Saturday morning! I know that some of you are going to leave early for band. I know that some of you have confirmation on that day. If you don’t have a really good excuse – BE HERE!!!

Kids – remember if you want to keep track of your points – go to www.nflonline.org. Under “resources,” you’ll see membership reports. Search for your name.

The question of the afternoon here at practice has the following answer: If you don’t want to do the salad dressing stuff – and fyi, the balsamic dressing is sooo good – that’s fine. Many kids have been handing me checks for $20 so that they don’t have to sell anything. THIS IS FINE!!! (But the dressing is really good, I swear).

Parents – the kids who have been here for practices have impressed me to no end. Please encourage that they keep up the good work!!! (Also – every year, I think to myself, “Can we be as good as we were last year???” And these freshmen have given me such hope for the future!!! Since I’m going to be doing this for the next 100 years – you have to know how much I appreciate a hard-working younger group!!!!)

For the debaters – Don’t plan on shaking hands this year. I sent out a letter to ask coaches in Pgh where we stood on this. I mean, even the Catholic Church is saying that it doesn’t want people to touch each other. The CDC is recommending elbow bumps. Uh, no – in the Pittsburgh district, we are skipping this formality this year. No handshakes, fist bumps, or (ick) elbow bumps. Just polite thank yous (One coach asked if we could do bows at the end of the debate. No. My husband pointed out that in our country, hand shakes with the right hand started as a way to show the other person that you weren’t going to pull your gun out. Let’s assume that you aren’t going to make any debaters from other schools that angry).

Also for the debaters – Please don’t email CrossFire or Victory Briefs to find out when the briefs are released. My “policy” has been to have you guys tell me when they are released, and then I will go to the site to download them (we pay for them at the beginning of the year). This still stands, but please don’t inundate them with emails asking them for personal emails about their completion dates. They are done when they are done.

For all of you, don’t touch things in other teachers’ rooms. I’ve already had teachers upset that they have cleaned their boards and made their rooms ready for a test first thing the next morning only to come in to find work – and drawings – on their boards. Let’s be respectful of others. And whatever you do, don’t mess around in the computer lab. Mrs. Gottshall has had enough.

Don’t forget to dress in layers on Friday!!! I plan to take 50 billion photos for the web site – but I would appreciate it if you would also take some! It is supposed to be COLD AND WET AND POSSIBLY SNOWY!!! You don’t have to stay for the game!!!

Don’t forget that we have a full team meeting on 10/31 in the morning. November is going to hit us pretty hard with tournaments. We are going to come out strong at some of these more novice tournaments!!!

Notes for the week –

Practices –

Wednesday – EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CONGRESS, we are going to start the afternoon with congress practice. We are then going to finish painting (almost done!!!), and if time allows, we are going to break into our event groups.

Thursday – I NEED PEOPLE WITH GOOD HAND-EYE COORDINATION TO HELP US PAINT THE BACKS OF THE POSTERS!!! (With the stuff that the characters say…)

Friday – regular practices after school. Pizza for those marching in the parade. DON’T FORGET TO GET YOUR BLACK / DARK SWEATSHIRTS. I saw bandanas at the dollar store by Target on McKnight yesterday. IT’S SUPPOSED TO RAIN ON FRIDAY. Dress in warm G20-protestor clothing. Remember to look protestor-y. Using similar terminology - Remember that your younger siblings can march with us. Get them in something Disney-y.

Do any of you know where to get a megaphone or three???

IF YOU MISSED THE PARENT MEETING – and note: The district says that you must suffer through one of these in order for your child to be on the team – the make-up meeting is on November 4^th in my room at NASH (322).

Those who are going to congress on Saturday – Be at North Hills JUNIOR High (right beside the high school) BEFORE 7:45. Tell your parents to come back to get you at 1:30.

Some of you have already emailed to tell me that you can’t attend on 10/17. REMEMBER THAT I NEED TO KNOW BY SATURDAY, 10/10 IF YOU CANNOT GO ON 10/17. I understand that there is a big holiday, and the juniors have pssa’s, and homecoming is that night.

Practice for congress will be on Wednesday, 10/14.

All members of the team are expected to do the team research, even if you are not going to the congress on 10/17. Go to our web site, and the link is right on our main page. New people - I gave you some basic instructions on the bottom of the page. Please have all research submitted to me by Monday evening so that I can put it together on Tuesday morning.

You will see a number by your name. This corresponds to the bill you are assigned. P means that you should research pro, and C means that you should research con.

Parents – Remember that the workshop for judging is this weekend. You can go to one of my other sites – www.pittsburghnfl.com and click on Invitations for the specifics on this workshop. I am actually not able to attend this, but there will be enough people there from our school. If you are going, please email me.

OK – Parents, the practices have been going really well! I’m about to kick a few kids out of my room so that I can go home!!!!

In this email -

(1) Change of email
(2) WOOO HOOOOO - WE'RE IN THE TOP 100 AGAIN
(7) Homecoming
(4) Trophy case
(6) Registered for the team? Do so NOW!!
(3) Parent meeting
(5) Congress research

Hi, all -

(1) I've given up on Yahoo. I didn't want to combine my calc / regular teaching email with my speech stuff, but it has come to that. PLEASE UPDATE ME TO THIS EMAIL IN YOUR ADDRESS LIST!

(2) I just got notice yesterday - WE ARE IN THE TOP 100 IN THE NATION AGAIN. 3000 schools. We rock. Thanks to all of you!!!! Good job!!!!

(3) Make up parent meeting - I haven't figured out a date yet.

(4) The industrial arts department has agreed to build our trophy case for us outside of room 322 at NASH. Wooo hooooooo!!! (Dr. B agreed to this after years of my begging!!!)

(5) You are each going to be assigned congress research soon. You'll have the info - and I'll send out another email soon!!!

(6) The link for registering for the team is getting removed this week. If you haven't done so yet - DO IT!!!

(7) HOMECOMING IS IN TWO FRIDAYS!!! Plan to walk with us. The theme is Disney. Our sub-theme is Debating Disney. THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT THEY HAVE ALLOWED US TO HAVE A HOMECOMING CANDIDATE AFTER YEARS OF BEGGING ON MY PART (Do you get the feeling that they are now agreeing to get me to stop talking to them?). COME CHEER ON BONNIE AND KYLE AS THEY REPRESENT US ON THE FIELD.

"The G20 is finished, but now the speech and debate team is going to take advantage of the homecoming crowd here tonight to protest for some of the causes near and dear to the characters of Disney. Cruella would rather wear skin-colored silk than dog fur. Thumper would like scientists to stop testing make-up in his eyes. Down with Robin Hood for promoting socialism! Doc thinks that malpractice fees are way too high."

So here is what we are going to be wearing - Jeans. Black hoodies. You can wear a doo-rag (bandana; whatever the term is now) over your mouths. Think crazy anarchists in Oakland before the Pitt students came outside to play. Layer according to the weather. I'm going to have my two little ones (and if any of you have little siblings, feel free to dress them in Disney-esque clothes and bring them) dressed like Tinkerbells and flitting around with us. The thought of a bunch of little kids running around with a bunch of anarchist-debate-protestors amused me.

We painted so many signs last night - thanks to those of you who came to practice yesterday and braved the spray adhesive smell in my room to paint signs with Cinderella and Nemo and twenty five other Disney characters... My head hurts.

Some of us who are marching will be carrying signs. Most of us will just be yelling. Two of our kids will have megaphones and will also just be yelling. You may not have picked up on this yet, but I don't like chaos, BUT I am sooo looking forward to the craziness of the evening. PARENTS - ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COME TO THIS. Show the school that we rock. We do. It's one of the rare chances that we have to be silly together!!! (and yes, you can leave immediately following the parade!)

OCTOBER 16TH -STAY AFTER SCHOOL WITH US TO PRACTICE, THEN EAT DINNER (PIZZA AND POP AND VARIOUS OTHER JUNK FOOD) AROUND 4 WITH THE TEAM, THEN WE'LL WALK DOWN TO THE STADIUM TOGETHER!!!

3. If you were on the team last year and wish to remain on the team, you must submit a congress bill and the essay with the appropriate number of words.

4. The mandatory parent meeting is on 10/1 at 6 pm in the NASH cafeteria. Seniors are in charge of desserts.

5. KNOCH IS GOING TO BE ALL CONGRESS SO WE WILL WORK ON THIS AT MONDAY'S PRACTICE!!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME EASY POINTS, YOU WANT TO BE AT KNOCH ON TUESDAY!!!

Re: Fundraising - I have info for those who want to sell Joe Corbis. Remember that you must make 200 in profit. The profit on a pizza kit or cheesecake or cookie dough kit is $5.

If you want to sell doughnut cards, YOU NEED TO GIVE ME THE MONEY IN ADVANCE. So let's say that you want to sell 40 cards which will give you the 200 you need to be on the team. You have to give me 400 bucks. I will order all of these on November 15th. You will get the 40 cards and you will sell them for 10 each. Done. You have raised 200 for the team.

If you want to sell the coffee that Krispy Kreme sells, you profit $3 per bag and they sell for $9. You'd have to give me 603 bucks for 67 bags. There is your 200.

If you only want to sell a few - that is fine. You just need to pay in advance (We do not have the capital to give to them in our acct at this time of the year and they insist on payment up front...)

The mandatory parent meeting will be 10/1 at 6 pm in the high school cafeteria. Dessert will be served.

Seniors - you are responsible for providing the food for this. Cookies, cakes, pies.

If you are a parent who has attended THREE of these meetings in the past, email me.. I have a special surprise for you.

ALL PARENTS ARE EXPECTED TO JUDGE 2 TOURNAMENTS DURING THE YEAR. WE NEED THE SAME PARENT AT BOTH TOURNAMENTS. THERE IS A JUDGING WORKSHOP FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO GET SOME EXTRA HELP ON OCTOBER 10 AT SHADY SIDE ACADEMY! (You do not have to attend this - it's just to help you if you are stressed out about judging). I will send info about this to you as soon as I get it!!!

Good news! We have been asked to be a part of HOMECOMING!!! This means that we need to pick a senior boy and a senior girl to be our candidates. Seniors - if you don't want to be in the running, I need to know. We all need to be a part of the parade. All = team. Please plan to stay after school just for a few minutes on Friday (before practices) so we can figure out what we want to do for our float. -------------------------

Seniors (and eligible juniors) - I'm putting the following in your hands - as soon as you reach all of the following criteria, let me know so I can do the paperwork for you to get the NFL All-American award

NFL Degree of Superior Distinction on record (750 points) GPA of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent) ACT score of 27 or higher or SAT score of 2000 or higher Completed at least 5 semesters of high school

If you want to go to Glenbrooks, please let Kyle know. If we have enough, we will go. Go to www.glenbrookdebate.com to read the invitation. I think that this one will cost about 500 per person... This is November 21-23

Some of you have asked me about TOC qualifying tournaments. The list is here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_of_Champions_(debate)#2009-2010_Qualifying_Tournaments Some of you have asked about traveling to tournaments without the team. You can - but you are doing it on your own. You need to get a vacation form. I am willing to do the registration for you, but you must mail the payment on your own. Parents, each year I get parents who ask me about these trips. I always recommend that you go with your children since it isn't sanctioned as a school trip and NA chaperones aren't going. The story that I can now (unfortunately) tell is this one - I couldn't go to the Harvard trip two years ago, and the kids who wanted to go didn't want to pay for our "regular" judges to travel with them. Each of the TEN students filled in the vacation form to let them school know that they would be missing classes. One of the kids registered the kids with Harvard. They made all of the travel arrangements. Parents emailed me and I made it very clear that this was not a school-sanctioned trip and there were no chaperones. While they were at the tournament (they used former NA students who were attending Harvard to judge), a student from another PA school died in the same hotel as our students (an aneurism). It was hard on the kids and I have never received more phone calls from students as I did that weekend. Even though they didn't know the boy who passed away, our kids - of course - took this incredibly hard.

With that written, there are numerous national-level tournaments our students can attend. I'm pretty open to going to any of them. The kids have to pay for EVERYTHING on these trips and they are above and beyond our regular season. It is also expected that the kids take on all of the planning and travel arrangements. This usually goes to a lead senior who just naturally fits into the role.

BUT - if they want to go to something by themselves or with a group - and one of the coaches isn't able to attend - it goes from being a school activity to a vacation.

I'm really excited to see the t-shirt design - and I'm really excited for us to do a fund raiser to buy a trophy case / trophy case materials...And I am actually eager for ideas for homecoming!!!! I think that this can be fun (I haven't attended a homecoming in more than 15 years.... so this will get me out...)

Notes from the speech and debate meeting: Some of you are going to get this twice.

All info is on the web site. ALL INFO IS ON THE WEB SITE. And for those of you who don’t believe me – ALL INFO IS ON THE WEB SITE. If it’s not on the web site – it’s because I don’t know the answer yet…

For my forensics world – I use the email svolpe223@yahoo.com. You do not need to use both of my contacts to reach me – I check both my email addresses often.

Go to the web site. If you are new, you need to click on the link on the opening page to give your personal information. If you are a varsity member, you only need to click on this link if you have new information.

Emphasized – We are one of the best teams in the country. Recently, I was given the stat that 20% of kids at Harvard did Lincoln Douglas debate. Just one of the types of debate! This is huge for us! Please know that we don’t expect new people to win when they first start competing. Because we don’t expect everyone to immediately win doesn’t mean that we don’t want you to try. The beginning of the first year is ALWAYS so hard. We have to get ourselves motivated. We have to learn (or remember!) our events. We work hardest at this time of the year. Work!!! Varsity kids – Yes, we have to argue about things that you have already discussed a thousand times. FIND A WAY TO GET EXCITED AGAIN! We’re coming off an amazing year. There is no reason for us to NOT reach the same level of excellence again this year!

Varsity members – you have already received an email about this. You need to get your essay and congress bill submitted.

Constitution – Look over the entire constitution. Discussed at the meeting were –

Look over the events. Practices are going to be M, W, and F (they are starting this week), and you can bounce around in the different events till you find something that you like. I KNOW that some of you have other activities and you are going to start with us later. Not a problem!

Please – look at the calendare online. On 10/31 we will have a Saturday morning practice. The bus schedule will be online today so that you will be able to see how long we will be gone for each tournament.

Opening meeting is on Wednesday 9/9 at 3 pm in room 322 at NASH. NAI students, take the transfer bus to NASH. This meeting should be about an hour.

Varsity members – if you were on the team last year, your essay is due 10/1 by noon. You may go pro or con on the following: "Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase humanitarian assistance for persons living in poverty."

2300 to 2800 words, not counting the title page, works-cited pages or any charts and graphs included within the paper.

Varsity members – if you were on the team last year, you must submit a bill or resolution by 10/1

New students – you must go to (copy and paste the following link) http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dC1QYWx5U2xWN1AwdElhQ05saHEyNHc6MA.. to fill in the information form IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO!!!

Varsity members – you only need to go to the above link if you have changed any of your info from last year.

Dues need to be submitted by 12/1. Checks for $200 should be made out to NASH and given to one of the officers. If you would like Joe Corbi forms, please let me know IMMEDIATELY. I'm willing to let you sell whatever you want if you have better ideas for fund raising - just let me know so I can order the appropriate books.

IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BE ON THE TEAM, TELL HIM / HER TO COME TO THIS MEETING ON 9/9.

PARENTS – In order for your child to be on the team, you must attend an evening meeting. I’m still firming up the date for this.