–post updated Jan 9, 2022–
We had hoped for an in-person contest this year, but with Omicron and steeply rising case numbers, we are concerned about 1) student/teacher/judge health and safety, and 2) the possibility that schools or districts may decide last-minute that students can’t participate. So, in an effort to allow as many students to participate as possible, the State Steering Committee voted last night (Jan 4, 2022) to make regional and state competitions fully virtual again this year.
That said, the situation is not exactly the same as last year (i.e. schools are generally open and student groups are generally able to get together), so we want to allow for students to participate in the ways they have been preparing for – as much as possible. For contest 2022, the vast majority of events will still be held. The exceptions are those events that we cannot put online while maintaining test security: written tests and scavenger hunt.
Important Details – Registration & Dates:
- Registration dates for REGIONALS will remain the same (Jan 16 early-bird, Jan 23 regular). Registration dates for STATE have changed (Feb 16 early-bird, Feb 18 regular).
- The events designated as “permanently virtual” will NO LONGER be due one week early this year. ALL events will be due (or take place) ON the day of contest (Feb 5 for regional, Feb 26 for State).
- Winners will be posted by Feb 12 for regionals and Mar 6 for State.
- I will bring trophies, shirts, patches, etc from State back to the DFW region the weekend of March 6 and work on distributing them from there.
Important Details – Judges:
- Judging windows will be Feb 5-8 (regionals) and Feb 26-Mar 1 (State).
- We will need lots of judges, and because of the virtual nature of the contest, judges do not have to be in DFW/Texas.
- ALL judges should fill out the Google Form with their information and availability. The link to the Google Form is posted on the North Texas AATG Facebook group and has been emailed to teachers. If you need the link, please email me at ntrwinterfest@gmail.com. Please send it to any friends/colleagues/community members that might be interested!
Important Details – Specific Events:
- Instructions for each event that are specific to virtual contest are posted under the “2022 Virtual Contest” tab. This document includes all events that advance to State. I will add instructions for Winterfest-specific events as soon as I can.
- As was the case last year, to submit most events, students will take pictures or a video of their entry, put the pictures or video link in a PDF, and submit it via Google Forms. Some events will be live on Zoom during regular contest time (9am-1pm on the day of contest).
- All events that are recorded and submitted as videos must be recorded in 1 take (no spliced videos).
- Poetry Reading/Memory and Prose Reading/Memory will again be collapsed into “Poetry” and “Prose” events, judged using the “memory” critique sheet.
- In the event of a last-minute substitution in group events (i.e. Student A gets sick and Student B reads his lines), the substitution should be noted in the Alpha list, and students should briefly explain the substitution at the beginning of the video. Judges will be informed not to deduct points (i.e. if Student B is reading a script where the performance is supposed to be memorized).
- Timed Writing will also be offered to Levels 3 and 4 this year.
- Pass Auf will compete but on a very modified basis. Basically, we will host a single live Kahoot quiz at 1:00pm on the day of contest; the whole Pass Auf team (up to 7 players per school) may compete; the top 4 scores from each school will be added together to create the school’s total score, then schools will be ranked accordingly. Questions will be drawn from Gail Cope’s newsletters and from this year’s special Pass Auf theme (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms).
Events included in this year’s contest
- Arts: all events
- Declamation: Poetry, Prose
- Drama: all events
- Music: all events
- Written Tests: Timed Writing (including levels 3 & 4)
- Oral Tests: all events
- Research Paper
- Pass Auf (modified form)
Events NOT included in this year’s contest
- Cooking
- Poetry Memory, Prose Memory
- Advantaged Speaker, Culture, Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening, Reading, Spelling, Vocabulary Tests
- Scavenger Hunt
Please keep an eye out for additional information – we are working on disseminating this as quickly as we can so that you and your students can prepare. Thank you for your flexibility!