Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Myers Park Speech and Debate team, I would like to invite you to consider participation in the  36th Annual Laird Lewis Invitational at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 9-10, 2009.  We are looking to make this year's Laird Lewis bigger and better than before.  Some upgrades include:

                        ...Free transportation provided for teams flying to Charlotte
                        ...Increased break-rounds for debate events
                        ...TOC Bids and Summit Debate scholarships
                        ...More affordable hotel options

Events at this year’s tournament will be:  Varsity and Novice Lincoln-Douglas sponsored by Apollo Debate, Varsity and Novice Team Public Forum Debate, Varsity and Novice Congressional Debate, Original Oratory, Extemporaneous Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo-Interpretation, Prose/Poetry Interpretation. Impromptu Speaking, and Radio Speaking.  Additionally, we will be offering Declamation, an event open to 9th and 10th graders (or younger) in which they will deliver a speech that has been delivered previously by someone else.  Students may double enter between speech events and debate events, with the exception of Congressional Debate.

We are pleased to offer Summit Debate Camp scholarships to our main event winners and Tournament of Champions bids to Quarterfinalists in Public Forum Debate and the top 6 compeitors in Congressional Debate.  During all elimination rounds, we will be offering Impromptu Duet Acting as a supplemental event for students who do not break.

For this tournament a “novice” shall be defined as any student in his/her first year of debate and/or speech activities. A student who participated in any tournaments in the past, regardless of event(s), can not be considered a “novice”.

As I close, I would like to thank you for consideration of this invitation to attend the Laird Lewis Invitational on January 9-10, 2009.  If at any time you have questions regarding this tournament, please do not hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience.

Most sincerely,

Andrew West

Andrew West, coach                             

Jason Kline, coach

Elena Botella, co-President

Rasesh Joshi, co-President

Simon Scholl, Laird Lewis Coordinator