SWIFT
S PEECH W ORKERS
WHAT IS IN THIS ISSUE OF SWIFT *State Debate Update *Weapon, Tobacco and Al cohol policy *Contest Schedule Changes *E-mail Addresses *Special Request Deadlines *Contest Information * On-Line Information * Registration Forms And so much more! Large Group District contest entry deadline is January 5th! Be sure to have your entries submitted by that date. Don’t be late!
OF I OWA
D ECEMBER 21, 2021
F EATURE T HEMSELVES
W
e hope you are enjoying good health and good cheer at this time of year. Take in the serene moments spent with friends and loved ones, and may the wonder of this time of year surround you throughout the holiday season. Here’s to a joyful present and a well-remembered past.
A
s many of you know I am a ‘PK’ (Preachers Kid), grown up in Northwest Iowa. Dad served a large church and the holidays were a very special time of year for my family in this community. I can remember that I thought the manger scene was my own personal playground with lifesized figures and bales of fresh hay. It was great fun until Dad came over, told my friends and me we had to leave that area since people thought it had become a ‘live’ natvity scene. One of my fondest memories is a certain Christmas eve. First there was the oyster stew dinner, which we had to have, but none of us liked it except my Dad! My brother and I got to open one present before the church service, however, my mom was the one to select it. It was a new white shirt. For the service. Go figure that! Once the Christmas Eve service was finished we would head home and discover one of the greatest surprises each year - under the tree was a six-pack of Orange Crush pop (we never got pop. “You know - it rots your teeth!”), a full basket of every kind of candy bar you could buy, and bags of chips and nuts. “How did that package get there?” Dad was up front leading the service and Mom was in the choir. “Could it be??” No, it could not, I know better! But still ... it was there year after year. With all the wonderful gifts I was given each year I still believe this was the best. When we moved out of the parsonage the gift stopped, but the thoughts of that special gift still remain to this day. About a year or so before we had our own children my mother finally told me that the giver of the goodie basket was a member of the church who believed the Ihnen boys deserved a special gift - one that would make my mom very upset with all the sugar! However, it was one that would change how I treat this time of year. It was a lesson on how to give and not have to be there to receive thanks. To know you have brightened a life because of your thoughtfulness. So a Christmas does not go by without me giving that wonderful suprise to another family. I hope you will find the joy of giving, not only at this time of year but all year long. As you relish the goodies, decorate every nook of your home, and enjoy the get-togethers may the joy and festivities continue to radiate in your lives long after the holiday season is past. Best wishes for Happy Holidays and a magnificent New Year!
From Deb and Craig at the State Office
CONTEST NOTES SPECIAL REQUESTS By direction of the Executive Committee of the IHSSA, all special requests must be called in to the State Office by the dates listed below: District Large Group - January 6, 2022 State Large Group - January 26, 2022 District Individual Events - February 10, 2022 State Individual Events - March 2, 2022 Special requests after these deadlines will only be accepted on an emergency basis. Do not e-mail or FAX special requests in to the State Office, you must call for a special request. Do not call the contest manager for special requests in scheduling as they cannot accept any calls of this nature. ACT/SAT testing will not be accepted for a special request. This policy will be strictly enforced!
CONTEST SCHEDULES FOR STATE AND DISTRICT Contest schedules for State LG and IE will only be posted on the IHSSA web site. If you have a problem downloading your state schedule contact the State Office immediately. No district schedules will be sent by mail. All district schedules will be sent to each school in their district via e-mail by the local contest managers or on their local school web site. When site assignments come out you must send your email to the local district contest manager. Their e-mail address is on the web site by contest site assignments. If you do not send your e-mail to your local district manager they will not be able to send you a schedule in a timely manner. Be sure to send your e-mail address or the address where you want the schedule and contest info sent to. This may be your home e-mail, school or business. Then, in turn, they will send you all info for your contest via the e-mail. This will save time and costs. WEAPONS As you may notice, many schools in the state have a Weapons Policy, and it seems each school has a different policy. After conferring with our legal consul, the IHSSA has determined a method of dealing with the weapons issue in IHSSA contest series. It will be the duty of an individual school to write their particular contest site manager if they have a look-alike weapon in their contest selection. Then the local contest site will make the decision if they will allow the look-alike on stage or in the classroom according to their own district rules. An example would be: School B is doing a Choral Reading of the Old West. They will be wearing toy sixshooters for each individual in the Choral Reading. School B must then write their local contest site manager and ask permission to use this look-alike weapon at that site. The contest site manager will then inform School B that it will be 1) allowed with no specifications, 2) allowed with specifications, or 3) will not be allowed. JUDGING DIRECTIVE FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Members of every district will be part of the program that provides the name of a judge for the State IE contest. Every school in the IHSSA that qualifies 5 or more entries for the IHSSA State IE contest on March 12, 2022 must provide the name of a certified judge on behalf of their school for that state contest site. This program will only be put into effect if the state contest managers in any district have trouble locating judges for that state contest. Then said judge from each school will be called upon to judge at the state contest. This is a constitutional item which we all need to be aware of for the contest season. ON-LINE REGISTRATION INFO All registration will be done online via the IHSSA web site with online forms. All of you should have your password and username by now. If you do not have it call us right away!! Some important things to remember: 1. You can work partially on the forms, save them, then come back to them later this year. 2. Be sure to have your PO # or check # when you start to register. You will need that or you will not be able to fill out the form. 3. You still need to send in one copy of your registration form to your local contest manager. 4. Print 2 copies of the registration before you send it in to the IHSSA via the internet -- one for your records and one to send to the contest manager. 5. NO PRINTING OF CARDS THIS YEAR. STATE DEBATE UPDATE State Debate materials are posted on the web site. Please go to the IHSSA web site to register for the State Tournament. Registration deadline is December 20th, 2021. If you have questions call the State Office ASAP. All materials are there online! Topics for Tournament are listed on the IHSSA State Debate Web site. Here is that link:
https://www.tabroom.com/index/tourn/index.mhtml?tourn_id=22385 .
CONTEST NOTES CAMERA WORK AT CONTEST Let this serve as notice that if you wish to use a camera of any type in a performance center you must have permission from the State Office. This includes any type of recording device. Please pass this important information on to your parents and spectators. This policy is effective for all IHSSA sponsored contests and festivals. ONE-ACT PLAY Three judges will be used on the district level for One-Act Play. This will be the only event on the district level that will use three judges. Remember to have three comment sheets ready for this event at the district level and there will be no oral critique in this area. Please instruct your cast concerning this item. ENTRY CARDS THERE ARE NO ENTRY CARDS FOR CONTEST THIS YEAR ... ALSO - NO SUB CARDS. NOISE AT CONTEST Coaches and performers are asked to remember that noise in the hallway near a performance center can be very distracting for the group or individual performing. This problem can be solved with all of us working together and discussing it with our students before the contest day. ROYALTIES It is the duty and the responsibility of the director to secure appropriate production rights for all material presented in IHSSA contest series. If you have any questions on this, please refer to page 13 of the Constitution, number 1, 2, and 4; or call the State Office. MUSICAL THEATRE Please note that in MUSICAL THEATRE you CANNOT HAVE UNIFORMITY OF ATTIRE. Please check CASEBOOK QUESTION #12! TAKE NOTICE: SHORT FILM ENTRIES In Short Film the credits are part of the timing if you show them at contest. Coaches make sure you take a moment to time your Short Films and critically review them before they go to contest SHORT FILM, TV and RADIO ELIGIBILTY By directive of the Executive Board of the IHSSA and suggested by all the state officers: please remember that all students in your Short Films, TV News, and Radio Broadcast must be eligible when the entry is given at contest. If a student was eligible when it was filmed/recorded and is not eligible on the date of the contest, that entry cannot be shown at contest. YOU CANNOT USE AN INELIGIBLE CONTESTANT IN IHSSA ACTVITES. If you need more clarification, please call the State Office.
RADIO BROADCASTING Please remember that this year you can have one or more commercials for a total of 30-45 seconds. Also, you cannot interview an outside school person for your broadcast. You can have one of your students play a person, however, it must be a high school member and part of the high school team that is presenting the Radio Broadcast. IN TV NEWSCASTING YOU CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE COMMERCIAL UNDER THE TOTAL TIME OF 120 SECONDS. SPEAK TO YOUR PARENTS Arrange for a time to meet with your parents about the IHSSA process and what contest is like. Many times a few moments of time now will save you much trouble later in the season. Go over how ratings are given, contest behavior, what is All-State, and what a positive supporter of the arts is all about. Be sure to do this before contest ... you will be glad you did. SEND YOUR E-MAIL TO YOUR DISTRICT CONTEST MANAGER Be sure you send your e-mail to your District LG and District IE contest manager ASAP. This is how they will communicate with you on several very important items such as contest schedules. Also, be sure to send your ENTRY FORM to the contest site by the deadline day. Many times we will have schools register online and never send their cards to the contest site.
IHSSA E-MAIL ADDRESS BOOK The following e-mail addresses have been compiled by the State Office from the electronic questionnaire form sent out in the October issue of SWIFT by the IHSSA. If an address is wrong please send us a correct one. We appreciate all who took the time and effort to help us with this address book. The November issue of SWIFT also has e-mail addresses. SCHOOL
COACH NAME
Atlantic Ankeny Centennial Atlantic Belle Plaine Sioux Center Sioux Center Sioux Center Waverly - Shell Rock Waverly - Shell Rock Waverly - Shell Rock West Lyon West Lyon West Lyon West Lyon * Contest Manager
Trisha Niceswanger Jon Russell * Brandon Baggett Susan Mattmiller Joe'l Vander Waal Jody Kock Jo Salazar Lisa Phyfe Allison Rasmussen Sherri Niles Miranda Goodchild Dori Horstman Jacob Ven Huizen Noah Blankespoor
EMAIL tniceswanger@atlanticiaschools.org jon.russell@ankenyschools.org bbaggett@atlanticiaschools.org smattmiller@belle-plaine.k12.ia.us joe'l.vanderwaal@scwarriors.org jody.kock@scwarriors.org josine.salazar@scwarriors.org lisa.phyfe@wsr.k12.ia.us allison.rasmussen@wsr.k12.ia.us Sherri.niles@wsr.k12.ia.us mgoodchild@wlwildcats.org dhorstman@wlwildcats.org jvenhuizen@wlwildcats.org nblankespoor@wlwildcats.org
ALL schools this year are part of the new contest scheduling program please take note! VERY IMPORTANT THIS YEAR YOU MUST BE ON TIME WITH YOUR ENTRIES ALL district and state contests this year are moving to digital scheduling. The names of the entries for scheduling are taken directly from the online registration, and a computer creates the schedule, saving contest managers hours of time. There are two things coaches MUST be careful of when registering online: 1. It is imperative that you spell your students’ names correctly and consistently. For example, the computer will read “Jon Smith” and “John Smith” as two separate people, and may schedule them at the same time. If “John” and “Jon” are actually the same person and the coach just misspelled their name, that creates a mess with the schedule. 2. Do NOT title entries with generic titles, such as “TBA”, “Improv 1”, or “Untitled”. When several schools do that, it also creates a scheduling problem. If your entry does not have a title when you register, please use some other unique temporary title, such as “Smith Mime #2” or “Craig Ihnen Film” (something unique to your school or a student name) so your title is distinguishable from other titles. Please be responsible with your own registration and double check before you submit! Carrie & Josh Tinkham This helpful turtorial (see link below) on how to register for contest was provided by CR Washington coach Carrie Tinkham. Please take a look and review - you will find this quite helpful. Please remember you do not have to mail green or pink cards this year. Also there are no substitution cards. Please see the link on the web site for substition work. SINCE WE ARE ONLY USING DIGITAL SCHEDULING YOU MUST BE ON TIME THIS YEAR OR RUN THE RISK OF NOT BEING SCHEDULED FOR CONTEST https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kZBhLvz8u4w-_CrLTqJLjalRGFOwwZ-qhpJ7QI3gh_U/edit
CONTEST SITE ASSIGNMENTS Contest sites for 2022 are posted as of December 15th, ‘21. Be sure to check your site assignment for this year. If you are not listed please contact the State Office ASAP! Please be sure to send your e-mail to your contest manager do this today!
As a courtesy to you, we will only put your e-mail in the SWIFT if you send us your address
How to get ready for contest and at contest ! 1. a. b.
k. l. m. n.
Register your entries ON TIME via IHSSA on-line registration. Make sure you spell the students’ names correctly. This helps the computer avoid scheduling issues. Make sure the title and author of the event is correct – don’t use generic names like “Team 1”. Instead pick a student’s last name like “Grant TV” if you don’t have a specific title yet. Make sure you correctly enter students who are performing in more than one event – DOUBLE CHECK! If you have and are using both a 9th grade team and a varsity team, you cannot have a 9th grader perform in a varsity event or a varsity student perform in a 9th grade event. Keep the teams separated. Do not call the contest manager about special requests! You MUST call Craig at the state office for any special requests to be approved. ACT Testing exemptions will not be approved! Send in your registration ON TIME! 2 ½ weeks before contest to the contest manager! The address is located on the IHSSA website. Send your email and entry form to the contest site. Once the schedule is posted, your school will be listed by ID number. Look for the entries with your ID number. Check the schedule to make sure all your entries are listed. If an entry is missing, contact the contest manager ASAP! If there is an emergency (student is ill, bus broke down, weather, etc.) contact the contest manager. If you need to drop an entry contact the contest manager ASAP! Make sure your comment sheets are filled out correctly (Comment sheets are found on the website). You will need one per event for district contest and THREE per event at state contest. Bring your OWN equipment! Equipment/materials you may need: Musical Theatre: Something to play the music on. You can bring your own table and uniform chairs, but ones will be provided at contest. Group/Solo Mime: Something to play music on and you have to have a placard! You may bring your own uniform chairs if you do not trust that the host school will have sturdy chairs. NEW THIS YEAR Radio News: Something to play the program on. TV News and Short Film: Projector, something to play the program on, speakers, extension cords. One Act Play: costumes, props, set pieces (basically plan on bringing anything you need). Choral Reading/Readers Theatre: Bring your own boxes, ladders, stairs, stools – whatever you use to perform – Don’t forget your scripts!! Group Improvisation/Ensemble Acting: NOTHING except the comment sheet. Solo Musical Theatre: Something to play your own music on. You may bring your own plain chair if you do not trust that the contest manager will have a sturdy chair. Expository Address: Bring your own visual aids including a computer/projector/speakers/etc. if you need them. Individual Radio News: Bring your own scissors, paper, tape, pens, and pencils, etc. Students typically use their own cellphone for a personal timer, but if you want to have timer that makes no noise, that is allowed. Storytelling: Bring your own stool. Spontaneous Speaking: Bring your own writing utensil and notecards/notepads. Reviewing: Bring your own visual aids/ projector/computer/speaker if needed. All individual interpretive reading speakers need to remember to have their scripts with them.
o.
When in doubt, BRING YOUR OWN STUFF! It’s better to be safe and overly prepared!
12.
When you arrive at the contest site, do a sweep of each contest center to make sure the center has what you
c. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.
need. If something is missing, i.e. a podium for Reviewing or the correct number of chairs for Ensemble Acting, go to the office to report it right away so they can take care of it. They most likely relied on students to help set 13. 14. 15.
up the centers and there may have been some simple miscommunication. Don’t ask for ballots in the office until all of your ratings have been posted. Before you leave count your ballots to make sure you have all of yours. This is easier than trying to mail a misplaced ballot to you after the contest. Have your students clean up around their “camp” area – even if the trash isn’t theirs, it’s nice to leave the space clean. Plus, they can take time to make sure they have everything that they brought so nothing gets left behind. It helps to have a checklist when you start and then you can check it again when you leave.
Special thanks to former IHSSA coach Jodi Grant now with Northwestern College Theatre for providing this great check list for contest.
Policy on the use of ‘Look alike’ alcohol, vapor products or tobacco for IHSSA Contest No real tobacco, vapor products or alcohol will ever be used in IHSSA contest entries. This includes live productions at contest as well as Short Film/TV Newscasting productions that are filmed offsite. Look alike alcohol, vapor products, or tobacco that are necessary for IHSSA productions at contest or in filmed events should be provided by the participating school and secured by the IHSSA Coach. All such “look alikes” will be facsimiles or non-functioning props. The IHSSA Coach is responsible for storing the prop “look alike” in a locked room or secure, concealed storage area. Students will check out these props when needed and will be supervised at all times. Real alcohol, vapor products or tobacco should never be used in an IHSSA production. Use of real products is a violation of State Law for the student(s) and the school. Students should not be asked to bring a ‘look alike’ alcohol, vapor product, or tobacco prop to school or an IHSSA Contest. All props (empty cans, bottles, fake tobacco products, vapor products) should be provided by the participating school and secured by the IHSSA Coach. The prop should be wrapped whenever it is moved from one area of the school/contest site to another. This moving should be done only by the teacher/coach. Students should never carry these props through the halls of a school/contest site. If the look alike prop is used in a rehearsal, at a filming, or at contest all administrators of participating schools should be notified of the use of that item. All contest managers should be alerted if a “look alike” tobacco, vapor product, or alcohol prop is being used in the IHSSA contest series. Coaches be aware of this in your video productions too!
Be sure to order a holiday present from the IHSSA store on line at: https://store.finedesigns.com/gre atplains/ihssa-store.html GREAT IHSSA gear for the new year!!!
2022 SPONTANEOUS SPEAKING AREAS These 10 areas will produce the questions for the 2022 Spontaneous Speaking category for both District and State contest. Please note these are not the questions, just areas for your students to do their research in.
1. National government issues and how they will affect the average person in America. 2. Security issues in our schools and national. 3. The economy in America and the world. 4. Laws and rules that relate to students. 5. Current/Past national level sporting events. 6. The Pandemic. 7. The President, Congress and the state of government in the United States. 8. The effects of media in our lives. 9. Business issues ... local, state, national, and international. 10. Educational issues that face our youth. Possible questions could be: How has social media changed the way we react to experiences in our lives? Do sporting events in America control our lives? What can be done about gun violence in America? IHSSA QR patch
IHSSA CONTEST ENTRY DEADLINES FOR 2022 CONTEST SEASON DISTRICT LARGE GROUP January 5, 2022 all forms (forms sent to office via on-line and forms sent to contest site via mail) STATE LARGE GROUP immediately after district contest ALL-STATE FESTIVAL immediately after notification of performance DISTRICT IE February 9, 2022 (forms sent to office via on-line and forms sent to contest site via mail) STATE IE immediately after district contest Please remember these deadline dates, late entry penalties will be enforced per constitutional rules. BECAUSE OF DIGITAL ENTRIES ENACTED THIS YEAR - IF YOU ARE LATE YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE AN ENTRY PLACE AT THE CONTEST SITE ... BE ON TIME WITH YOUR ENTRIES THIS YEAR!
Permission to do Material or Music in all IHSSA events
CHORAL READING BE SURE THE SCRIPT IS IDENTIFIABLE “Journey Cake Ho! Journey Cake Hi! Catch me and eat me as I roll by!” In 1984, I was introduced to my first choral reading and immediately, I was in love. Ruth Sawyer’s text chronicles young Johnny’s departure from the farm due to changing times when his “Journey Cake” (similar to a pancake) leads him on a merry chase alongside a barnyard full of animals through the countryside and back to the family--uniting them all together again. Under Ms. Berryhill’s direction, unison speaking coupled with individual characters, a wide variety of choral effects, and some intensive group enthusiasm, JOURNEY CAKE HO! rolled all the way from Exira High School to IHSSA State Contest in Council Bluffs. Our sense of a connective story: blended. Our projection of emotion: generous. And our use of scripts: creative and purposeful! (We fashioned our scripts to mirror that of a Journey Cake...bright, yellow and yummy.) 35 years later, I find myself still deeply intrigued, fascinated and entrenched in everything choral reading. I have seen it stretched, squeezed, expanded, condensed, magnified, modified, and simplified. The range and nature of choral readings continues to exemplify diversity at its best--very similar to the cacophony of farm animals chasing after the Journey Cake. Like Johnny, the protagonist in the story, I have, admittedly, over the years challenged the category to the outer regions of its casebook questions. “What defines ‘script’?” A prop? Yes. A costume piece. Yes. Would a glove work? Yes, that would work. How big? How small? “Must the script be identifiable?” YES. How do I effectively use the script and stay true to its intended purpose? Sometimes my journeys have been affirmed with great results, while at other times, the risk of being “too familiar” did not pay off. But always, my intention has been to tell a good story. One that focuses on unison delivery and one where the group speech is the most effective means to the end. A story rich in message and mood. One where the group delivery - both vocal and physical - exudes with synchronicity and synergy. One that radiates effective oral interpretation. And one that maintains the integrity of using the script. As we begin our contest season and seek fresh approaches, new styles, and never-heard-of-never-seen-before techniques, I encourage you to remember the moral of the “Journey Cake.” As Johnny ventured beyond the log cabin, through the garden patch and over the brook with a cow, a pig, some sheep and some chickens all in tow, it was ultimately the script -- the Journey Cake -- yes, that rolling, yummy, audience-grabbing pancake of a script -- that brought his attention all the way back home and secured all the creatures with their keepers. Stay true to the integrity of the script. Use the script with purpose. Make sure it is easily seen and serves the story. “Warm up the Journey Cake. From now on, its Johnny Cake. Johnny come eat it with milk for your tea.”
Please remember you must have permission to do ANY MATERIAL that you use for contest events. We now have agreements with many companies to use their materials for IHSSA contest. For example, if you use some recorded music for background in mime or short film, unless it is ASCAP music, you have to receive permission to use it. If you are reading an interp selection from a book you must receive permission to read that selection or cutting at the contest. In Musical Theatre you cannot do cuttings unless you have permission to do so. You can NEVER cut or rearrange material without receiving permission or using material from the companies we have agreements with. Receiving permission to perform at contest is just that. It does not cover performing for other events. Also, NEVER allow contest selections to be placed on YouTube or the internet. YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO DO THAT! It is the responsibility of the local school to secure all performance rights for contest selections. Be sure you have permission to do material before you start a selection for Stacy S. Hansen, IHSSA Coach at Large contest. The IHSSA will NOT support any school that does not secure performance rights for selections at contest. Do not put your school district in financial danger by not finding the rights to perform material. You as the coach must secure rights to PERFORMANCE RIGHTS FOR MUSICAL THEATRE AND OTHER AREAS USING SHEET MUSIC AND NOT TRW OR MTI perform materials for contest. From Dr. James Weaver of the NFHS - If you are wanting to perform IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO PERFORM YOU a work of music for a contest you will need to follow the guide below: CANNOT DO THAT MATERIAL!! If you are using sheet music from.... ASCAP – With a national agreement for high schools you can perform any
piece in the ASCAP catalog and not have to write for permission. BMI – Must request and receive permission to perform, a fee might be required. Or purchase the license for your school. SESAC – Must request and receive permission to perform, a fee might be required. With all of these Performing Rights Organization permissions you cannot make an arrangement without the proper permission from the copyright owner. However, you may make cuts for timing purposes only, but the piece must remain in the same order.
GREEN CARDS or PINK CARD or SUB CARDS FOR IHSSA CONTEST There are no cards for contest this year. Please do not make up cards for contest. If you have a substitution for a student please find the link on the front page of the IHSSA web site and use that link to make a substitution for contest. Please see the article below on how to do substitutions this year. BE SURE TO BE ON TIME WITH ENTRIES SINCE WE ARE ONLY DOING ONLINE AND NO CARDS
Comment Sheets for Contest All comment sheets for contest are on the forms page. Go to the forms page to download the comment sheets for the contest. Please make new copies this year as there was a change in the Radio Broadcasting comment sheet in 2019. You need to bring your own comment sheets for contest.
DEBATE INFO: The State Debate Tournament is set for January 7 and 8, 2022 at DMACC in Ankeny. An exciting tournament is anticipated in all four disciplines of the Debate area. Go to the web site for the tournament link. ALL DEBATE WILL BE HELD AT THE DMACC CAMPUS. PLEASE EXIT I-35 AT EXIT 90 AND HEAD WEST ON ORALABOR ROAD. PARK IN THE NORTH LOT. THE STUDENT CENTER WILL BE THE HEADQUATERS FOR THE CONTEST THIS YEAR.
IHSSA INFO www.ihssa.org craig@ihssa.org deb@ihssa.org phone # 515-288-9741(main) Toll Free 888-985-6547 Direct Craig 515-401-1834 Direct Deb 515-401-1833 IHSSA Address 5000 Westown Parkway Suite 150 West Des Moines, Ia. 50266 Office hours 8 - 4:30 M-F
Web site e-mail
The State Office is closed for break from Dec. 22nd to Jan 2nd. We open again on Jan 3rd.
How to use the online substituton form instead of the substitution cards. Be sure to read this!! Just when you learned you’d no longer have to battle your printer each season to get your green or pink cards printed, we have even more exciting news to share! Forget those pesky green and pink cards – let’s focus on our rarely used, but equally important, SUBSTITUTION card! Ah, yes, the little white card that sometimes packs a worrisome punch, for the substitution card means an unexpected change to your Large Group or Individual Events roster. In the past, the substitution card has played a key role in notifying contest managers and other IHSSA officials of a student performer change after registration, but before or on contest day you would fill it out by hand, try to locate a school administrator to sign it, and turn it in to the contest manager at your District LG or District IE site. Now, in the same way that all registering and scheduling has become digitized, so too will be all substitutions for IHSSA contests. Beginning this year, you will no longer need to carry substitution cards around. From the convenience of your computer, you can easily complete any substitutions your team may encounter this season. And as Craig Ihnen was recently heard saying, “We can even do this on our phones, too!” Similar to past expectations, you will need to make sure your student subs are eligible (Article III, Section I) and make sure you are subbing them in time for contest. Remember, in Large Group, a student may sub at District or State and continue forward with that group, or the student they replaced may return for State or All-State. For Individual Events, once a student subs at District contest, they must remain in that event The student they replaced may not sub back in for State or All-State. (See Article V, Section 8 of the By-Laws.) Just like registering for contest, the new substitution card form will be found under the online registration link on the IHSSA website. This is the same location where we enter all of our entries for registration each season. Just follow the substitution card link once you’ve logged in. Isn’t this a great moment for Speech in Iowa? By taking bold leaps into the digital age with registration, scheduling, and substitutions, we will continue to engage new territory and further lead by example for others across the nation. -Kevin Hosbond, Grinnell (Editor’s note: Special thanks to Kevin Hosbond and others for making this form happen for the IHSSA)