Letters: Ridge Forensics Seeks Funds to Continue National Championship Tour

During this Memorial Day weekend, the Ridge Forensics team, the interscholastic high school speech and debate team, is competing at the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska.  The NCFL Grand Nationals is open to students from both public and parochial schools who qualify through a series of local meets.   This year, thirty-six students qualified for the tournament, the largest amount of entries in Ridge history and the largest of over 500 teams at the Grand National event.

At Ridge, the forensics team is one of the largest student competitive organizations and currently stands as the New Jersey State Champion team for nine consecutive years. Our students excel at the most prestigious of speech and debate events, including the Ivy tournaments. Most of the Ivy League universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, sponsor speech and debate competitions that attract thousands of students from across the country, and consequently, Ridge High School is considered one of the preeminent teams in the Northeast. In order to travel and compete at these national events, our students must take the time commit to improving and perfecting their research, critical thinking and communication skills.

We're a full year activity.  Our first tournament occurs in September and our last event is in June.  In order to maintain such a rigorous travel schedule, our students must balance schoolwork, research, practice, and a multitude of other school activities.  Our students are also involved in athletics, the arts, and in virtually every social and humanitarian organization in the school.  They must learn to balance their time and responsibilities.

We also spend a good deal of time fundraising.  The Ridge team is funded primarily through parent contributions and fundraising activities.  We host four to five tournaments a year where we raise money through entry fees and concession costs. Last winter, three of our events were snowed out – that put a huge dent in our fundraising income.  And this year, the national championship tournaments are in the Midwest, and airfares are at an all-time high.

Our Omaha air tickets cost $23,000 alone in order for the students, chaperones, and judges to fly out there. Add hotel, entry fees, ground transportation, and judging fees to the mix, and this one tournament will cost the team close to $35,000.  Students do contribute a fair amount, but if the students were to pay their entire cost, each one would need to write a check for over $1000.00 for this one event."

In addition, eleven Ridge students will represent New Jersey at the 2010 National Forensic League National Championship in Kansas City, MO in June. 

All of our fundraising goes to subsidize these amazing tournament experiences throughout the year. I've always held the belief that if one of our students works so hard throughout the year and qualifies for a national championship event, I and our team will do everything in our power to ensure he or she can attend.  $1000 tournament fees will prevent most of our students from reaping their just-due rewards.

The team has undertaken an aggressive fundraising campaign for the spring.  They have partnered with area businesses, Ridge Travel, Somerset Hills Florist, and Grab 'em Snacks, to offer cruise luncheons and "Bouquet a Month" subscription cards.  In addition, they ran a 'treasure chest' event at Charter Day where community members won an Ipad, Nanos, Shuffles, and several gift certificates including $150 gift cards, courtesy of Ninety Acres at Natirar.  While the efforts have proved profitable, the team has a large way to go to help fund their national championship events.

Ridge has recently joined a new program sponsored by the National Forensic League, called "Give Youth a Voice," where individuals and corporations can make contributions directly toward the Ridge High School Speech and Debate National Tournament fund. 

One of the hurdles that we have encountered over the years is that as a school activity, we are not considered a "non-for-profit" organization as defined by 503(c) 3 status, which would allow monetary donations to be tax deductible and also qualify for corporate matching programs.  Through the "Give Students a Voice" program, a donation is made to the National Forensic League, which does have 503(c) 3 status, which is then directed to a donor-specified member school's national expenses.  Ridge has been the leading New Jersey chapter of the National Forensic League for over eight years.  The National Forensic League has a very active development program attracting businesses and corporations wishing to sponsor public speaking and debate activities.

Give Youth a Voice program is a great way for Bernards Township businesses and organizations to donate to programs that will directly benefit the youth of our community while promoting the academic and social benefits of public speaking and debating skills.

This opportunity also opens the doors for our alumni and community members to help support the national program that Ridge has maintained over the years. We've had so many amazing and talented individuals compete on the Ridge Forensics team over the past twelve years.  Many are studying in top-tiered schools, performing on professional stages, starting their own businesses, and working in highly-competitive industries.  I've recently heard from some who are now teachers, executives, lawyers, journalists, professors, and several future doctors!  Quite a few have wanted a way to contribute back to the team; however, there hasn't been the mechanism to allow the corporate matching programs and other benefits until now.

We hope our alumni and friends from past and present can help the Ridge legacy continue.  Our students are truly setting new standards with great successes and honors.  We could really use the support at this crucial time to help keep the team's national ranking.  Individuals or corporate entities who would like to sponsor the Ridge Forensics team may do so by visiting, http://www.giveyouthavoice.org/fundraiser/ridge-high-school where they can make a direct contribution.

The Ridge Forensics team recently made headlines when senior Alex Smyk won the Congressional Debate Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky while junior Brian Moore and sophomore Tejus Pradeep advanced to the final round in Public Forum Debate.  Anyone interested in learning more about Ridge Forensics or who is interested in sponsoring the team can contact David Yastremski at dyastremski@bernardsboe.com or by calling the high school. 

This letter was submitted by Ridge High School Forensics Director David Yastremski.