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Newton South looks forward to hosting the Raymond W Karras Novice Scrimmage on Saturday, May 16.

Event: Public Forum Debate. Topic to be announced.

Competitor eligibility: High school students attending MSDL member schools who have competed in no more than one interscholastic high school speech or debate tournament prior to the current academic year.

Judge requirement: Please provide at least one judge for every two entries. Judges may include students with at least two years of interscholastic debate experience and a minimum of 200 NSDA points (or equivalent), as well as adults.

Supervision: Each school’s students must be accompanied by an adult who is responsible for them throughout their time at Newton South. This individual must be at least 21 years of age and physically present at the tournament site whenever students from their school are present. Please designate this person as the onsite coach when registering in Tabroom.

Food: Please bring your own food.

Schedule: Please arrive onsite between 9:00 AM and 9:30 AM. We anticipate four preliminary rounds and a final. The event will conclude by 4:00 PM.

Cost: There is no registration fee.

About Ray Karras (1928-2013)

The Ray Karras Novice Scrimmage honors a teacher whose influence continues to shape high school debate.

More than five decades ago, Ray Karras founded the Lexington High School debate program - an extraordinary legacy that endures to this day. His motivation was simple but profound: to promote evidence-based argumentation and disciplined thinking. For Karras, debate was first and foremost an intellectual activity. Competition mattered, but only insofar as it sharpened reasoning, deepened research, and clarified expression.

Karras taught in the Social Studies Department at Lexington High School and worked to embed debate within the school’s academic curriculum, where it remains today. He believed that students should learn not justwhat to think, but how to think - carefully, rigorously, and with respect for evidence. Known for his insistence on preparation and clarity, he challenged students to defend their ideas, question assumptions, and engage seriously with opposing viewpoints.

His impact is reflected not only in the program he built, but in the generations of students who carried forward his commitment to thoughtful, well-supported argument.

The Ray Karras Novice Scrimmageis dedicated to that vision.