JACKSONVILLE

June 9-11

June 21-23

MIAMI

ORLANDO

June 13-15

June 27-29

PANAMA CITY BEACH

Speech & Debate Educator Learning Retreat

Coaching speech and debate is a labor of love. It takes time, hard work, and lots of energy, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. The Florida Debate Initiative wants to help novice coaches build and grow strong and successful speech and debate programs. This isn’t your average PD, not only will you come away empowered, we’re making sure to provide training in a comfortable and inspiring learning environment.

Who should attend?

Would you like to coach speech and debate, but you're not sure where to start? Are you in your first two years of speech and debate education? Is this your first coach retreat? Are you able to commit to the entire session? If you said, YES--then this PD will be a great place to learn.

And don’t forget, there is no specific teaching background required. We welcome educators from every discipline.

The workshop will explore all of the competitive speech and debate events, how to teach and coach them, and how to build / grow your program (whether you have a dedicated class or meet with your students after school) including promotion, recruiting judges, and developing your own class.

This training is FREE to our wonderful speech and debate educators. Hotel accommodations are provided at no cost. Travel reimbursement is also available up to $100.

*Registered participants who cancel within 5 business days of the retreat may be responsible for the full cost of the event which is valued at $875.

Participants are expected to be present for all hours of training.

Session 1: Jacksonville, FL, June 9-11

Hotel Location TBD

Day 1, Monday, June 9th: 1-5pm

Day 2, Tuesday, June 10th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 3, Wednesday, June 11th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-4pm

Session 2: Orlando, FL, June 13-15

Hotel Location TBD

Day 1, Friday, June 13th: Training 1pm-6pm

Day 2, Saturday, June 14th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 3, Sunday, June 15th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-3pm

Session 3: Miami, FL, June 21-23

Hotel Location TBD

Day 1, Saturday, June 21st: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 2, Sunday, June 22nd: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 3, Monday, June 23rd: Training 8:30am-12pm

Session 4: Panama City Beach, FL, June 27-29

Hotel Location TBD

Day 1, Friday, June 27th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 2, Saturday, June 28th: Training 8:30am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Day 3, Sunday, June 29th: Training 8:30am-12pm

Legal First Name

Legal Last Name

Personal Email Address

School/Work Email Address

Phone

For calling, texting, adding to groupchats, etc.

How many years have you been a speech and/or debate educator/coach?

Which grade levels do you teach?

K-3

4-5

6-8

9-12

Name of your speech and debate team's school. If you are not affiliated with a team for 2025, please indicate that as well.

Mailing Address

Street Address

City

State

Zip Code

What county do you reside in?

Please format your response as follows: if you live in Orange County, type Orange. If you live in St. Lucie or St. Johns County, type St. Lucie or St. Johns.*

Please list which Florida SENATE district you reside in (District #1-40).

Please refer here if you are unsure which district you reside in. List only the number.

Please list which Florida HOUSE district you reside in (District #1-120).

Please refer here if you are unsure which district you reside in. List only the number.

Please list which FEDERAL congressional district you reside in.

Please refer here if you are unsure which district you reside in. List only the number.

What are your primary learning goals for teaching and/or coaching speech and debate?

These sessions are designed to be engaging and collaborative. Please be sure to double-check calendars and confirm you can be available for the entire session. If selected, you will be expected to reschedule any other commitments accordingly.

Yes, I am confident I can meet this obligation, and I understand the terms above.

No, I'm not confident I can meet this obligation.

Please rank each of the following:

We will make every effort to provide your preferred room type. Please select below.

King

Two Full Size

I do not have a preference

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Thank you for taking the time to complete this application. Please direct any questions to Learning@floridadebate.org. Selection will be made on a rolling basis until Tuesday, June 4, 2025.