Judges needed for speech tourney

Hot Springs County High School’s Speech and Debate team will be holding their annual Bobcat Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 15, and are looking for anyone who would like to be a judge at the tournament.

“We have about 13 schools attending the tournament,” coach Cindy Glasson said, “and we could use all the judges we can get.”

The judging commitment would not have to be an all day commitment. If you have a few hours in the morning or in the afternoon, they can find rounds for you to judge.

There is no prior experience necessary as you will be given instructions on judging each of the different events and if there are certain events you simply do not want to judge, arrangements can be made to prevent you from having to.

Various events include humor, poetry, original oratory, drama, duet, informative and three different varieties of debate.

“We’re always looking for folks from all walks of life,” Glasson said, “and we encourage our judges to make it clear who they are. For instance, we’ve had ministers who wear their collars that day and sheriff’s deputies who come in full uniform. It lets the kids know they can’t predict what a judge is going to like or dislike based on how they look.”

If you would like to participate as a judge, please send an email to cglasson@hotsprings1.org or lwiley@hotsprings1.org. Lunch and snacks will be provided to judges throughout the day.