December 30, 2009 • 10:24 pm 0
the past two days have been doing tireless thankless work for the georgia forensics coaches association. but i’m done. i finished the compilation of all the participation numbers in all the policy divisions at all of the tournaments so far this year.
the totals are after the break…
Filed under: daily blogging, debate, gfca, totals, tournament
December 29, 2009 • 10:47 pm 0
if we get out of the gfca, we go down to 1 division for State. That’s 16 schools who get the invitation. If those were the rules this year- those schools would be:
Let’s look at those schools and where they fall:
7 are AAAAA, 2 are AAAA, 4 are AAA, 2 are AA, 1 is A. This means 9 out of 16 are from the bigger division – that’s not bad – but just wait… it gets worse. Next year we have new classifications. Applying those classifications: 6 are from AAAAA, 5 are from AAAA, 2 are from AAA, 2 are from AA, 1 is from A. This means 11 out of 16 are from the bigger division. Out of the 5 from little division that would make it – only 1 is a public school.
Out of the 16 schools listed, twelve are located in Fulton County! Twenty-one counties have had a team do policy debate this year – can we let one county decide everyone’s fate?
Filed under: daily blogging, gfca
September 7, 2009 • 4:12 am 0
I’m a fourth year coach at Fayette County HS in southern Georgia. In my short four year coaching career, I’ve also coached at Wheeler High School in North Georgia and Sandy Creek HS in southern Georgia. I’ve coached a 70 person team, a 25 person team, and a 8 person team. I’ve coached a team that receives significant funding from the Board of Education. I’ve coached a team that runs entirely off of parental donations. I’ve coached a team that receives no funding and/or donations, and must fundraise for their budget.
Richard Bracknell proposed last month to the Georgia High School Association to withdraw debate from the auspices of the GHSA. As the Assistant Director of Debate at Fayette County High School I fully support him.
Everyone will concede that Georgia debate is slowly evaporating. Everyone should also note that South Georgia debate is rapidly dying. In my four years, I’ve seen over 10 Southern Georgia programs fold. The GFCA is actively promoting programs to try and grow Georgia debate in all regions – but the easiest solution is impossible under the GHSA. The Georgia Independent Schools Association was created in the early 1900′s as an answer to integration in schools. Today, the GISA still exists and the GHSA has rules where GHSA / GISA schools cannot compete against each other. If debate was removed from the auspices of the GHSA, we would add more than 15 schools automatically from GISA to compete in Georgia tournaments. Additionally, a majority of debate schools in GISA are located in South Georgia and other areas dying for new programs.
The main argument posed against withdrawing was schools would lose their funding. My problem with this thinking stems from Mario Herrera’s comments – why are we letting money determine the best educational outlet for our students? I believe that funding is crucial in this activity and keeps teams rising to the top nationally, however I do not think that the GHSA is uniquely key to funding. Activities such as the Academic Team & the Math Team exist without GHSA supervision. They receive limited funding from their schools. Why can debate not be treated the same way? Additionally, if your school would automatically lose funding because we’re not GHSA-affiliated– it is partially your fault for not advocating your program better. It is the responsibility of the coach to display every aspect of greatness the debate team creates for its students. If you advocate your program effectively, I do not know of one principal not willing to fight for funding at the Board meetings. Remember the goal of our activity is education- we need to do what is best for our students and not let the best extra curricular activity die in front of us.
I encourage you to comment with your opinions – I will be updating you on the issue and post some more reasons as to why we should withdraw.
Filed under: daily blogging, complain, debate, fayette, gfca, GHSA, succession
July 14, 2009 • 5:10 am 0
I am now a certified mathematics teacher in the state of Georgia! I passed both tests for certification – on the first try! Without much studying! I’m sooo pumped.
I have to keep reminding myself, so I stay cheerful. I am struggling in Calculus 3. It’s a constant struggle it seems. I am not a fan of the professor at all. I think I am starting to understand but the worst part is I haven’t been able to really focus on the class because I have a Modern Algebra Exam today – which i feel very confident about! Once Modern is done, I’ll have to turn to my attention to Calc. I’m planning on waking up early tomorrow and really settling down in Calc.
I would say no computer – but our textbook is online… talk about distractions. Not to mention, the GFCA site opens July 15 – eh.. so I have to finish working on that. I think I’ll wake up at 9:30 tomorrow.. sounds good.
Anyway, anticipate a post about my new favorite album coming soon. Probably tomorrow night.
Filed under: daily blogging, debate, gace, gfca, math, regina
