Radio days

A little something over the holiday break, to remind us how much fun we have. GMU when we get back!

December WFTR Radio Show

Since it was the only show we're doing in December due to holiday breaks, everyone wanted in, and it was a bit of a madhouse. To make it more interesting, Valerie was stuck at college for final exams, so I didn't have my usual moderator and lion tamer. So this was a, shall we say, lively show. Fun, too. Our guests were Jon Pedersen, Alex Neimeier, Ben Nelson, Ben Schoonover, Micah Peregrino and The Jackson McGraw Show.

http://www.archive.org/details/20111212RMA

Christoph breaks at Princeton!

All of our kids did well, but the big news is Jon Christoph, who cleared out rounds in Lincoln Douglas and made it to Triple Octofinals! In a tournament with over 140 schools competing, that's excellent. We'll finish up our judging obligation this morning, then shop a bit in Princeton before pointing the van toward home. Next is the WACFL local tournament, then GMU in January and Duke in February. Tune in to WFTR a week from tomorrow for a Princeton report on our regular Radio Forum.

Princeton!

We had two rounds yesterday, and will have four more today. We'll find out later this afternoon if any of our kids broke to final rounds. We did well yesterday so everyone is charged up and ready.

On our way to Princeton

We stopped at Messiah College to pick up Valerie. Registration is at 3 pm, first rounds at 5. Ben Nelson and Jon Christoph are competing in Lincoln Douglas, and Micah Peregrino and Jackson McGraw in Public Forum. Charge!

Medal in Lincoln Douglas

Jon Christoph took a 4th place medal in JV Lincoln Douglas, and Ben Schoonover went 3-1 in his first tournament. We're waiting for Public Forum results.

WACFL 2

Off we go on another local tournament, at Potomac Falls High School. We have a bunch of people trying Lincoln Douglas this time, as well as Ben Nelson, who is looking to complete his regional qualifier today. And our hotshot PF team of McGraw and Peregrino are looking to match their top round finish from last time. This is also a warmup for Princeton the first weekend of December. Charge!

Link to WFTR show, 11/7

We really got going with this one...almost talked over the end of the show.

http://www.archive.org/details/20111106RMA

WFTR Radio Show, 10/24/11

Here's the link to our Monday, October 24 radio show. Fresh from our excellent outing at WACFL1, we had conversation starters from Micah Peregrino, Will , Ben Nelson, and Jon Christoph. Valerie Pratt moderated as usual. And we finally got our coach James Taafel to come in and participate!
http://www.archive.org/details/20111024RMA

Yeah!

Jackson and Micah nailed second place, with an undefeated 4-0 record! Ben went 3-1, so he has a half qualifier for metro finals. A great start to the season!

WACFL 1

We're at the first local tournament, fired up and ready to go! We have Ben Nelson in Lincoln Douglas, and two Public Forum teams: Jackson McGraw and Micah Peregrino, and Josiah Kovacich and Jon Pedersen.

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

WFTR radio show, October 10

Off we go again on the WFTR airwaves: http://www.archive.org/details/20111010RMA 

This time we had two new team members, Will Fausnaugh and Josiah Kovachic, along with old friend Micah Peregrino. Valerie Pratt moderating as usual. We talked about Joe the Plumber and other current items of interest.

WFTR Radio Show, Monday, September 26

And a lively show it was. Our topics were major areas of public discourse and discussion, including the death penalty, illegal immigration and... Miss Universe? Here is the link to the podcast.

http://www.archive.org/details/20110926RMA

9/12 WFTR Radio Show Podcast

We had an excellent radio show Monday night, with a larger crowd than usual since everyone wanted to get back into it. The resolution, on the value of commercial vs. government-sponsored space flight, got a lot of great discussion. We had to cut it a little short due to a broadcast from a football game. Here is the link to the podcast:

http://www.archive.org/details/20110912RMA

 

We're back!

The new year has begun and the team is hard at work. Our first WFTR broadcast will be next Monday, September 12th, at 6 pm. If you can't pick us up live on WFTR AM, we will put a link to the podcast of the show here as soon as it's up. Our resolution is about public vs. private funding of the space program, but we'll probably work in some current news and stories from our summers.

Graduation

The Class of 2011 graduated today. Here's a YouTube clip of their senior parade, the presentation of the class to the General and dismissal, when they throw their hats in the air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmz04-qdKK8

What a great four years it's been. Watch this space as we plan for next year's team. Oh yes, Valerie and I will still be involved, even though she'll be at Messiah College in Pennsylvania...they can't get rid of us that easily!

Last WFTR radio show of the year

Here's the Class of 2011 Swan Song Edition of the R-MA Speech and Debate Team Radio Forum:

http://www.archive.org/details/20110523RMA

A real rouser of a show with a full studio! Valerie Pratt moderated as usual, assisted by team members Micah Peregrino and Jackson McGraw. Our old friend and former team member John Holsinger was our special guest, and he brought along fellow debater Stosh Lipinski, who has visited us before. We talked about various Republican presidential hopefuls, then seamlessly segued into natural disasters and the Middle East. Conversation was peppered with reminiscences of our experiences traveling with our teams and battling through tournaments.

Since Valerie is graduating in a few days, I'm reminiscing fondly of our four-year run. It's been an amazing experience, and the old man here feels privileged to have been a part of it. What a fantastic group of kids, and I mean all of the debaters I've met, not just ours. The sooner we baby boomers turn over running the world to these kids, the better. 

The first two years, under the leadership of Rev. B. A. Gregg, opened up a new world to me. Getting drafted into judging tournaments led to more and more travel and became a big part of my life. The thrill of seeing Valerie win tournaments and go to Nationals was part of it, but I will never forget the good times traveling with the team to exotic places like Las Vegas, Wisconsin and Boston. Who else but B. A. Gregg could drive his team bus to a 50s-style drive-up restaurant in rural (read: empty) Wisconsin, complete with a waitress on roller skates and a chef who is an Elvis impersonator? Or our road trip to Harvard where we took turns reading Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens" to each other? 

When Rev. Gregg moved on two years ago we had a different challenge, holding the team together and building on his foundation. I am very proud of Valerie, who has been team captain all that time, and has not only kept it together but built for the future by finding and nurturing new team members. I have no doubt that Ben, Micah, Jackson, Jon and the rest will go on to new heights. (Especially Jon Pedersen, who nailed the Middle School Speech tournament!)

One of the best parts for me has been our biweekly talk shows on WFTR. I guess we haven't really produced these programs, as much as we've perpetrated them. I have always loved radio; I believe it does something special in this media-soaked society, something that other flashier media can't do. One of those things is to provide an environment for the free exchange of ideas, and boy, did we do that. I like to think that we showcased the fact that our kids are well-informed and thoughtful people, as well as being exuberant (read: barely restrained) teenagers. I want to thank Lonnie Hill, stalwart keeper of that little concrete castle next to the radio tower, who has always welcomed us graciously and done everything we've asked, as well as cheerfully tolerating the miscues and dead air caused by the old geezer trying to run the control board. An hour of air time is not a small thing, and we are grateful. Warren County has a real treasure in WFTR. What's not to love about a radio station that does live remotes from Little League games?

So here we go to graduation. If you're local, I hope you'll come and see the Senior Parade on Friday at 2 pm. The R-MA Campus looks beautiful this time of year, and it seems special now that we're leaving it; I remember clearly how it felt when we arrived. The first time I came to campus, I had a feeling that this was a place where good things happen. I can get sentimental about it because I'm the old guy; the kids have no time for such thoughts, already picking out college courses and making vast plans. So I'll do what they will do when they get older, and say a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in making Randolph-Macon Academy what it is.

--Doug Pratt

  

 

May 9 WFTR radio show link

Our penultimate show of the year (that means next-to-last, so you don't have to look it up) is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/20110509RMA

 

Wilson McGraw and Micah Peregrino were our guests, and a lively discussion it was, especially when we started talking about the American educational system.

Podcast of WFTR show, April 25

Even though it was the last day of Easter break, we made it to the WFTR studio and had a lively radio show. Discussion ranged from the dangers of foreign chocolate Easter eggs to the dangers of being tracked by your Iphone. Valerie Pratt was the moderator and Tyler Atkinson the target...I mean guest.

http://www.archive.org/details/20110425RMA

WFTR show: Attack of the Middle Schoolers!

Well, not quite. We cranked the radio show back up after taking a break for Spring Break, and this time we featured one of our Freshmen and two Middle Schoolers: Micah Peregrino, Ben Schoonover and Jon Pederson. Excellent show on a wide range of topics, with discussion of the earthquakes in Japan leading Ben to enlighten us about local geology.

Here's the link to the podcast, thanks to our friends at WFTR:

http://www.archive.org/details/20110411RMA

This weekend is Spring Family Weekend, and we want to remind you all to come to the lovely R-MA campus for a visit. Our team captain is acting in the play, "Check, Please!" at 7pm Saturday in the Little Theatre. Tickets are free, and a great time is guaranteed!

Podcast of 2/28 show

Here is the link where you can stream or download the podcast of yesterday's radio show:

 

http://www.archive.org/details/20110228RMA

 

WFTR show Feb. 28

We'll be trying a live video feed from our talk show on WFTR tonight. Since today is the return day from winter break, we called on a couple of locals: Jackson McGraw and our old friend John Holsinger.
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Update: Good show! Here's the video. Link to the audio podcast will be up tomorrow.

U Penn wrap-up

We made it to finals, but Jackson and Val were eliminated in the first round. Still an excellent weekend, even though we're leaving earlier than I would have liked.

UPenn Saturday results

Jackson and Valerie broke to finals! They will start their battle at 8am tomorrow. Everyone else just missed, but it was our best results so far at a national tournament.

So far

They just posted results from the first three rounds and we're doing great. Ben is 2 and 1 in LD. Micah and Jon are 2 and 1, and Jackson and Val are 3 and 0!

U Penn

This is a great campus, beautiful and comfortable. Our old friend and teammates Ryan Black is here judging, hanging with us and swapping stories between rounds. We're briefing each other, comparing notes and revising cases. After four rounds the room gets a little, uh, disorganized. We'll clean it up after Round 6. Really.

U Penn

First round underway. Ben Nelson is in Lincoln-Douglas. Micah Peregrino and Jon Pedersen have the first flight of Public Forum, and Jackson McGraw and Valerie Pratt have the second.

We're in Philly

The City of, well, you know, brotherly stuff is our Target for Tomorrow. Specifically, the U Penn campus, site of the Liberty Bell Invitational Tournament. We have two Public Forum teams hitting the bricks early... six rounds tomorrow. This is our last national tournament of the season, so we're fired up nicely. Pictures tomorrow if the phones cooperate.

WFTR Radio Show, February 14

Excellent show on Monday. For the first half of the hour we talked about current events, mostly the happenings in Egypt. For the second half, we concentrated on the current resolution that our Public Forum teams will be debating at the Liberty Bell Invitational in Philadelphia this weekend: "Resolved: Wikileaks is a threat to the security of the United States."

Download the podcast here:

http://www.archive.org/details/20110214RMA

Or stream it on this embedded player:

 

Jan 31 show moved to Feb 7

Due to a scheduling hitch, our WFTR show ran on Monday February 7, and we'll have another on Monday February 14. Here's the link to the Feb. 7 show: http://www.archive.org/details/20110207RMA

WFTR-AM radio show podcast, 1/17/11

Lively show! Unfortunately the first few minutes didn't get recorded for the podcast, so it misses the old man fouling up the intro music and stumbling over everyone's name as usual. Our guests were Micah Peregrino, Jackson McGraw and Tyler Atkinson. We talked about the tragic shooting in Tucson, and decided to focus on a less-discussed aspect of the case: how the public health system deals with insanity. Jackson had some interesting research on the subject. Micah tackled the new Congress and the debt limit. Valerie moderated moderately. Fun was had. If they don't lock the doors and turn off the lights when we pull into the parking lot, we'll do it again in two weeks.

 

http://www.archive.org/details/20110117RMA

 

GMU Debate Tournament

I tried to send email updates to the blog all weekend but none of them got through. Irritating, especially since we have such great news!

Ben Nelson got his first break in Lincoln Douglas, getting into the octofinal round after an excellent performance in the six out rounds.

In Public Forum, Jon Pederson and Micah Peregrino did well but didn't break. Jackson McGraw and Valerie Pratt went all the way to Finals, and finished in second place!

Next up: a WACFL tournament this Saturday at South Lakes High School in Reston. Our next national-level tournament is the Liberty Bell Invitational at U Penn in Philadelphia, February 19-20. And of course, every two weeks, we're back on the airwaves on WFTR.

We're radioactive!

Quite the lively talk show on Monday! We talked about government by regulation, death panels, the proposed Constitutional amendment that would let states veto Federal laws, and even managed to work in some of Dave Barry's latest column. Valerie Pratt moderated, and our guests were Tyler Atkinson, Jackson McGraw and Ben Nelson.

Podcast of 1/3/11 Radio Show

http://www.archive.org/details/20110103RMA