Directors:
Good morning TAPPS. In a follow-up to the schedule announcement, please review the information presented below to assist in your planning and preparing for the competition.
Location:
This year has proved a challenge to secure sites once the Waco Convention Center booked an event for the top floor of the convention center on the dates of competition. They have new folks just like us, so things happen. We were able to secure the bottom floor and the rooms in the adjacent hotels in order to hold our speech competitions. With the upstairs not available, the BASE came to our rescue for both the ART and ACADEMIC competitions. While two sites was not the original plan and not the plan moving forward, we are grateful to the WCC and the BASE for working to make this opportunity possible as we come out of two years of a worldwide pandemic. Together we will work to make the competitions and the schedules work for our competing students.
There will be holding space available for participants at both facilities. More information to come on the amenities as we get closer to the event.
MAP TO THE BASE | MAP TO WACO CONVENTION CENTER
Academic Competition:
All Academic Competitions will take place at the BASE. There will be three tests on Tuesday afternoon once the speech competitions conclude at the WCC. We will then continue through the day Wednesday with the remaining tests at the BASE. All grading will take place on site and we will need your volunteers to once again help with proctoring the tests and grading the exams. More information and a sign up sheet will come out next week.
Speech Competition:
The preliminary survey responses indicate that we can accomplish the Speech competitions in two rounds. After multiple discussions, in person performance was developed to eliminate virtual prelims. Following this option, there may be more than two rooms in the first round of competition. In this instance, the number advancing from each room may be reduced to move 8 to the finals. With the room options available to us this year, we are still looking to crown our champions through head to head and not virtual competition. With this option, now more than ever, we will need volunteer judges to make the competition possible. Whether we have enough to panel or if critique judging is the best we can accomplish, we are thankful for this opportunity to compete. More information and a sign up sheet will be available next week.
In addition, as you prepare, please make sure to compile your “notebook” with your speech cuttings and proof of sourcing to bring with you to the event. In the event questions arise, this information will prove necessary for you and your competitors.
Lincoln Douglas Debate:
Again this year the preliminary entries will allow for competition across all 6 classifications. Once we get the official entries, we will then prepare the actual format for the competition and release that information as soon as it is finalized. While not ideal to have LD Debate conflict with the testing schedule, it is the best we can do given the circumstances we are maneuvering through. We will work through potential conflicts as we get closer to the event and do our best to make sure students can compete in multiple events over the three days.
Entries:
Thank you to all who completed the earlier planning survey. Now it is time to make final entries in each category. Please review the information regarding entries in the by-laws and make your entries through the form attached. We know it is a bit tedious, but we are reinventing the wheel and appreciate your working through the steps. In the event a student must scratch on the day of competition, you may make substitutions, but not add students. All students must be shown on your academic/speech roster in Rank One by the day of competition. Entry deadline is March 25.
Information:
We will continue to update the Academics, Speech and LD Debate Pages on the TAPPS website with information in addition to the emails you should be receiving. Please make sure that all directors and sponsors have their profiles in Rank One complete prior to the competition. If you need assistance in this process, please contact the TAPPS office for assistance.
In closing, we are looking forward to a GREAT competition. After two years away and three years since we last competed, we cannot wait to once again see our students return to the TAPPS championships. Things may not look or feel quite the same, but that is ok. Things may not go as they have in the past and new procedures may be developed as we go through the three days of competition, but that too is ok. In the end we will crown champions, applaud competition and be thankful that we can once again meet in person to celebrate our students doing what they love to do in support of their school.
Our thanks to all of you as we work through the run up to competition. Stay tuned for more information and reach out as questions arise. The TAPPS office can be reached at 254-947-9268 or [email protected].
Rhonda Smith
Director of Fine Arts
Bryan Bunselmeyer
Executive Director