2011/12 CDL/CDMSL Mentor Coach Program

The 2011/12 CDL/CMSDL Mentor Coach Program will continue last season’s successful CDL Mentor Coach Program, but also subsume the CMSDL Support School Program. That is, we will have one program that deploys mentor coaches to both high school and middle school debate programs that seek or are in need of advice, suggestions, ideas from some of our most experienced, most proficient debate coaches.

Here are the salient features of the 2011/12 CDL/CMSDL Mentor Coach Program.

• Any coach can apply to become a mentor coach.  Any coach means HS or MS, any number of years of experience, regular or external coach.
• Apply to become a mentor coach by sending an email to Les (leslynn@resources.chicagodebates.org) with (a) a description of your qualifications to help less experienced coaches, (b) how many site visits (to other schools) you can do per month, (c) any geographic limitations you have in the schools you mentor.
• The deadline for applying to be a mentor coach is 10/15, though the sooner you apply and are accepted, the sooner you can start mentoring.
• Mentor coaches will be matched with schools that they can then work directly with to set up mentoring site visits.
• Mentor coaches will be paid $35/hour for the time they spend on-site with their mentees.  These on-site meetings can either be at the mentee’s school (usually) or at the mentor’s school.
• Mentor coaches do not need to submit an agenda for their meetings in advance (unlike last year), but they do need to submit a Mentor Site Visit Report (again, to Les) within a couple of days of the visit.
• Mentor coaches will have two paid meetings with the CDC during the year, and will get guidance from the CDC on the number of mentoring visits/hours with the schools they’re working with.
• Schools interested in getting help from a mentor coach should contact us at any time.
• Mentor coaches from district schools will be paid through the SPS payment system.  Mentor coaches from charter schools will be paid through the CDC.
• Both mentor coaches and mentee coaches will receive CDL professional development credit (toward their 20 hour PD standard).
• Judging for CMSDL tournaments will no longer be coupled with the Mentor Coach Program.  We will be recruiting CDL high school debaters to judge at CMSDL tournaments separately, we will announce the terms and conditions for those CDL high school debater-judges soon.  They will be required to attend a special CMSDL judge training workshop, and will continue to eligible to judge at CMSDL tournaments pending their judging performance at CMSDL tournaments.

The CDL/CMSDL Mentor Coach Program is designed to leverage the widespread experience and expertise of our debate coaches, and to facilitate peer training and professional sharing.

Please let us know if you have any questions.