Parents
There are many ways that you can effectively assist your child at the middle
school tournament. Thanks for helping and enjoy your day!
Before the tournament:
• Know the following information about your child. This information will be available
from your school's coach before the tournament.
Event: _______________________ Code: _______________________
School Homeroom: _____________________________________
• Remind your daughter/son to bring all necessary materials for their event (e.g.,
scripts, visual aids, notecards, etc.). They should know their needs.
• Pack a snack and a bottle of water. No food is sold in tournament buildings.
• Be certain that they have breakfast.
During the tournament:
• Participants have other things to think about. Help them to be in the right place at the
right time. Before the general meeting, you may want to take your child to the rooms
where he/she will perform.
• Make this a positive learning experience. Everyone is a little tense. We all need to be
mindful of other's feelings.
• Many students are here with a coach, but no parent; offer help to any lost souls
along the way.
• Please follow proper tournament etiquette:
• Attend the parent and general meetings in the morning. Schematic and
room changes, as well as essential general information, will be announced.
• Do NOT leave valuables in the homeroom; it will be used for competition.
• Room/Round etiquette:
1. Turn off all cell phones, pagers and other electronic equipment during
rounds.
2. Please do not leave the room during the round. You should watch all
performers. However, if you find you must leave, do so between speeches.
3. If you must enter a round already in progress, WAIT outside the room
until you hear applause, signaling the end of a speech, before entering.
4. Students, parents, and judges should not discuss or comment on
performances until the ballot is turned into the Tab room. If you have a
question about a particular judge's or student's behavior or rules, talk about
it with your childʼs coach. If they want to address it with the Tab staff, there
is a Tab Room in each building; here scores are tabulated and
questions/concerns are addressed.
5. Parents may NOT videotape or take photographs. You risk your child's
disqualification if you choose to ignore this rule.
6. Parents may NOT prompt their child during a performance. Again, you
risk disqualification of the contestant by ignoring this rule.
• Please show respect for all students at all times. Do not read, eat, sleep,
listen to music, catch up on paperwork, or otherwise distract a performer.
Likewise, if you are aware of someone else being disrespectful, bring it to
the judge's attention, quietly, between presentations.
• QUIET PLEASE! Be aware that not all rounds finish at the same time.
Although it is sometimes difficult to contain your excitement, please keep
conversation to a minimum when leaving a round. Excess noise in the
hallways distracts those who are still competing.
• Each school is responsible for cleaning their homerooms. All garbage
must be emptied (there are dumpsters outside the buildings), boards
erased, and desks and lecterns returned to their original positions. Spills
must be cleaned up. The awards ceremony will NOT start until all rooms
have been cleaned. Schools will be assessed a $25 per room penalty for
failure to properly clean each homeroom.
• Lost and Found: Direct all lost/found items to the Tab Room. Announcements will
be made at the awards ceremony.
• Be aware of the schedule.
Tournament Schedule
8:00-9:00 Registration
8:45 Go to the designated homeroom for your school. Be sure that your child
has received a code, map, and schedule from their coach. Only the
coach stands in line for registration materials.
9:15 Parent and Students Meeting
This session will provide answers to your questions and give you lots of
helpful information. General rules are reviewed and any room changes are
announced.
9:45 Round l
Off you go! Keep your child calm. Remind him/her to speak clearly, not
too quickly, to use eye contact and, of course, have fun. Oh! By the way,
do they have to go to the bathroom?
11:00 Round II
Check with the coach about lunch plans. If plans are to eat in an area
restaurant, this may be a good time to scout out a few good locations.
Check out a safe area in the building to leave stools, visual aids, etc.
12:00 Lunch
PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR THE LAST ROUND.
1:15 Round III
3:00 Results
There is a room full of people adding up scores. As soon as they are
done, the awards assembly will start. Be patient if the assembly starts
late. Review assembly etiquette:
• Stay through the whole ceremony.
• Excessive cheering and hooting is distracting, disrespectful and slows
down the ceremony.
• Applaud for every winner, not just those from your school.
**ALL QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMPLAINTS, AND COMMENTS SHOULD BE
ADDRESSED WITH THE STAFF IN THE TAB ROOM**