Blind Brook Debate Team Constitution
Preamble
The Blind Brook Speech and Debate Team is organized for the purpose of providing opportunities for students to expand their public speaking skills, think critically, learn the basics of argumentation and debate, and allow them to see situations through different perspectives. Through regular team practices and tournament competitions, members will enhance research, writing and speaking skills necessary to excel in the classroom and beyond. We are founded on inclusivity and believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to participate.
Article 1
The following section details the positions within the Blind Brook Speech and Debate Team’s board as well as the responsibilities, prerogatives and duties that each office entails. Furthermore, it articulates the collective responsibilities of the entire body.
Co-Captains:
The Co-Captains shall lead and conduct Board and General Meetings. Moreover, the Co-Captains shall be vested with executive decision making on tournament registration, the assignment of debate partners and the determination of all general activities. Additionally, the Co-Captains shall coordinate and execute team activities; and, shall act as the primary intermediary betwixt Members, the Board, the Coach, parents, and guardians. The Co-Captains shall help all members develop public speaking abilities, and research skills.
Vice President:
The Vice Presidents shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. Additionally, the Vice President shall coordinate activities relevant to their respective team components – speech or debate; and, shall perform the duties of the Co-Captains if the Co-Captains are incapacitated or absent from team functions.
Secretary:
The Secretary shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. The Secretary shall take attendance at all team meetings/ submit all attendance to the administration via the required online form, and post the monthly topic into the Facebook book; and shall help the Co-Captains set the agenda for weekly meeting.
Treasurer:
The Treasurer shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. Additionally, the Treasurer shall monitor the Team budget if any dues are to be collected. Treasure shall also be responsible for assisting in collection of expenses for overnight events. The treasure along with the board is also to help with coordinating team fundraising if need be;
Research Officer:
The Research Officer shall organize and conduct preliminary research on each newly released topic and share all findings with the team. The Research Officer shall also teach and train members of the team; and shall aid each pair in developing arguments for upcoming tournaments. This office will be merit based. Team members who wish to apply for the position must inform the board. The candidates for the position will be then evaluated based on the following point-based formula:
The candidate with the most points will be selected as the year’s Research Officer.
Collective Responsibilities:
All board members shall aid their fellow team members in creating and editing their affirmative and negative papers prior to tournaments. All board members will act in compliance with as well as enforce the debate team constitution.
Article 2
The election process for the positions of Co-Captain, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer will proceed as follows:
Team members who wish to run for a position must attend at least 75 percent of meetings. However, if an individual attended less than 75 percent of the meetings due to family or health related matters, then they can still run.
Elected board members may hold up to and including a total of 3 points worth of board positions in clubs sanctioned by Blind Brook. Board positions count for either 0, 1 or 2 points. If an elected board member violates this rule they are required to step down from either the other clubs board or the debate team board (failure to do so will result in impeachment).
Allocated points:
Debate Board 1 point
Mock Trial Board 2 points
Model United Nations Board 2 points
Congress Board 1 point
Senate Board 1 point
Class Officer 1 point
Focus Leadership Position 2 points
All other clubs not listed 0 points
All newly sanctioned clubs must be immediately considered for point allocation. A simple majority vote is required to change or implement new point totals.
Moreover, the team member must have debated in at least one tournament in the previous year (excused absences are the only exception which include obligations for school and illnesses). Furthermore, they must submit a formal form to the Board informing them that they would like to run and for which positions they will be seeking one week before the election. A candidate may run for at most 2 positions (research officer is not included as a position to run for). Each position will be filled using a plurality vote.
In order to be eligible to vote in the election, team members must attend 50 percent of the team’s meetings and must register to vote in advance.
Article 3
If a member of the board fails to attend 75 percent of the meetings, violates any aspect of the conduct policy outlined in Article 5 or regularly violates the debate team constitution, then they will be impeached from their post. A replacement will be selected for their position by the current board on a majority vote. Any ties will be broken by the advisor of the team. This replacement must have attended 75 percent of the meetings in order to be appointed.
Article 4
The team members will be notified of any and all tournaments before the tournament’s registration deadline. Moreover, the board will provide the team members with the appropriate forms for registration. The members of the team must return said forms in a prompt and timely manner before the deadlines have passed.
Individuals who wish to debate in a tournament should send in their partner requests before the tournament. These requests will be used by the Co-Captains to determine the debating partners. However, the requested pairings are not guaranteed to be the final pairings. In addition, no negative requests will be accepted unless reasons for said request are submitted in writing, confidentially to the advisor.
Team members who will be debating in a tournament must complete and submit their debate papers at least one week prior to a local tournament or at least two weeks prior to a larger tournament If this is not followed, they will be taken off of any registration and will be required to pay any necessary fee. Additionally, if they drop out after the registration deadline, they will be required to pay any necessary fee.
Article 5
Conduct Policy
Article 6
In order to amend this constitution, a majority vote among board members as well as advisor approval is required.
Articles 1 cannot be subtracted from, only added to.
Articles 3,4,5 and the Preamble are unamendable.
Ratification of the Constitution
Founder- Samuel Zarkower (2016)
SIGNED PREVIOUS VERSION
Captain- Jacob Zarkower (2018)
SIGNED
Captain- Josh Schlactus (2018)
SIGNED
Vice President- Ryan Wallace (2019)
SIGNED
Secretary- Edmond Kwok (2018)
VERBALLY AFFIRMED
Treasurer- Eric Wagner (2019)
SIGNED
Research Officer- Adena Kibel (2019)
VERBALLY AFFIRMED
Preamble
The Blind Brook Speech and Debate Team is organized for the purpose of providing opportunities for students to expand their public speaking skills, think critically, learn the basics of argumentation and debate, and allow them to see situations through different perspectives. Through regular team practices and tournament competitions, members will enhance research, writing and speaking skills necessary to excel in the classroom and beyond. We are founded on inclusivity and believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to participate.
Article 1
The following section details the positions within the Blind Brook Speech and Debate Team’s board as well as the responsibilities, prerogatives and duties that each office entails. Furthermore, it articulates the collective responsibilities of the entire body.
Co-Captains:
The Co-Captains shall lead and conduct Board and General Meetings. Moreover, the Co-Captains shall be vested with executive decision making on tournament registration, the assignment of debate partners and the determination of all general activities. Additionally, the Co-Captains shall coordinate and execute team activities; and, shall act as the primary intermediary betwixt Members, the Board, the Coach, parents, and guardians. The Co-Captains shall help all members develop public speaking abilities, and research skills.
Vice President:
The Vice Presidents shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. Additionally, the Vice President shall coordinate activities relevant to their respective team components – speech or debate; and, shall perform the duties of the Co-Captains if the Co-Captains are incapacitated or absent from team functions.
Secretary:
The Secretary shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. The Secretary shall take attendance at all team meetings/ submit all attendance to the administration via the required online form, and post the monthly topic into the Facebook book; and shall help the Co-Captains set the agenda for weekly meeting.
Treasurer:
The Treasurer shall assist the Co-Captains in fulfilling Board duties. Additionally, the Treasurer shall monitor the Team budget if any dues are to be collected. Treasure shall also be responsible for assisting in collection of expenses for overnight events. The treasure along with the board is also to help with coordinating team fundraising if need be;
Research Officer:
The Research Officer shall organize and conduct preliminary research on each newly released topic and share all findings with the team. The Research Officer shall also teach and train members of the team; and shall aid each pair in developing arguments for upcoming tournaments. This office will be merit based. Team members who wish to apply for the position must inform the board. The candidates for the position will be then evaluated based on the following point-based formula:
- 0.5 points awarded for their weekly attendance; for example, if they attend 10 meetings then they would receive 5 points.
- 4.0 points for their participation at a debate; if a student debated at 3 tournaments during that school then they would receive 12.0 points.
- 2.0 points awarded for having judged a debate; for example, if they judge at 2 tournaments then they receive 4.0 points
- 1.0 points for attending a tournament as a researcher.
- 3.0 points awarded per JV award won during that school year.
- 1.5 points awarded per Novice award won during that school year
The candidate with the most points will be selected as the year’s Research Officer.
Collective Responsibilities:
All board members shall aid their fellow team members in creating and editing their affirmative and negative papers prior to tournaments. All board members will act in compliance with as well as enforce the debate team constitution.
Article 2
The election process for the positions of Co-Captain, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer will proceed as follows:
Team members who wish to run for a position must attend at least 75 percent of meetings. However, if an individual attended less than 75 percent of the meetings due to family or health related matters, then they can still run.
Elected board members may hold up to and including a total of 3 points worth of board positions in clubs sanctioned by Blind Brook. Board positions count for either 0, 1 or 2 points. If an elected board member violates this rule they are required to step down from either the other clubs board or the debate team board (failure to do so will result in impeachment).
Allocated points:
Debate Board 1 point
Mock Trial Board 2 points
Model United Nations Board 2 points
Congress Board 1 point
Senate Board 1 point
Class Officer 1 point
Focus Leadership Position 2 points
All other clubs not listed 0 points
All newly sanctioned clubs must be immediately considered for point allocation. A simple majority vote is required to change or implement new point totals.
Moreover, the team member must have debated in at least one tournament in the previous year (excused absences are the only exception which include obligations for school and illnesses). Furthermore, they must submit a formal form to the Board informing them that they would like to run and for which positions they will be seeking one week before the election. A candidate may run for at most 2 positions (research officer is not included as a position to run for). Each position will be filled using a plurality vote.
In order to be eligible to vote in the election, team members must attend 50 percent of the team’s meetings and must register to vote in advance.
Article 3
If a member of the board fails to attend 75 percent of the meetings, violates any aspect of the conduct policy outlined in Article 5 or regularly violates the debate team constitution, then they will be impeached from their post. A replacement will be selected for their position by the current board on a majority vote. Any ties will be broken by the advisor of the team. This replacement must have attended 75 percent of the meetings in order to be appointed.
Article 4
The team members will be notified of any and all tournaments before the tournament’s registration deadline. Moreover, the board will provide the team members with the appropriate forms for registration. The members of the team must return said forms in a prompt and timely manner before the deadlines have passed.
Individuals who wish to debate in a tournament should send in their partner requests before the tournament. These requests will be used by the Co-Captains to determine the debating partners. However, the requested pairings are not guaranteed to be the final pairings. In addition, no negative requests will be accepted unless reasons for said request are submitted in writing, confidentially to the advisor.
Team members who will be debating in a tournament must complete and submit their debate papers at least one week prior to a local tournament or at least two weeks prior to a larger tournament If this is not followed, they will be taken off of any registration and will be required to pay any necessary fee. Additionally, if they drop out after the registration deadline, they will be required to pay any necessary fee.
Article 5
Conduct Policy
- Members need a form of citations for sources used in a debate paper.
- Members will act respectfully towards other members at meetings.
- If not, board has right to remove from meeting
- If not, board has right to remove from meeting
- All members will act in compliance with district code of conduct.
- If a member has two separate violations (at a minimum the member recieved an in school suspension), they will be removed from the team for the current school year. Board members will be removed from office (in addition to the team) and made ineligible to run for the board for the following school year.
Article 6
In order to amend this constitution, a majority vote among board members as well as advisor approval is required.
Articles 1 cannot be subtracted from, only added to.
Articles 3,4,5 and the Preamble are unamendable.
Ratification of the Constitution
Founder- Samuel Zarkower (2016)
SIGNED PREVIOUS VERSION
Captain- Jacob Zarkower (2018)
SIGNED
Captain- Josh Schlactus (2018)
SIGNED
Vice President- Ryan Wallace (2019)
SIGNED
Secretary- Edmond Kwok (2018)
VERBALLY AFFIRMED
Treasurer- Eric Wagner (2019)
SIGNED
Research Officer- Adena Kibel (2019)
VERBALLY AFFIRMED