Contests

In all contests, except Creative Writing, Music Memory, Number Sense, Storytelling and One-Act Play, a minimum of four students from at least two different schools must compete at the district level in a grade level in an individual contest in order for the top two to advance to State. If only three compete (from one or more schools), only one may advance to the State. In the event that only one or two students compete, neither student advances to State. In Creative Writing, Music Memory, Number Sense, and Storytelling, only one may advance if at least four compete in each grade level. Grade levels may be combined to meet minimum entries.  If grades are combined, students will compete with the higher grade at both District and State competition. For contests that are officially combined for competition, the top two scoring students advance, regardless of grade level. No teams, other than One-Act Play, may advance to the State Meet. Students MUST actually compete in a District Contest in order to be counted among those to meet minimal requirements for contestants to advance to State from that event. If contestants tie for 2nd place, both advance to State if the contest is otherwise eligible to have the top two winners advance.

The first alternate ONLY from each of the 60 grade level contests will be eligible to compete at State in the absence of a first or second place qualifying contestant from their own district. If contestants tie for 2nd place, there is no first alternate to advance in the absence of a 1st or 2nd place qualifier. An official list of qualified alternates, derived rom the official results from each District Meet, will be provided for each contest director.  There will be no first alternate when tied 2nd place individuals advance to State.  In case of a 3rd place tie, both 3rd place students serve as 1st alternates, and both advance to State should either the 1st or 2nd place student drop out of the competition.

If a first or second place contestant who is eligible to advance to State is unable to attend the State Meet, the alternate school’s PSIA campus director should be notified in writing (by email preferably) as soon as possible by the eligible contestant’s PSIA campus director. The State office must also be notified. One email addressed to the alternate’s PSIA school director AND to PSIA would take care of this responsibility. There is no need to go through your District Director to complete this requirement. Since District Directors are required to send out the complete District Results to each participating school in their district, the first alternates are identified on this document. Look on the PSIA website(www.psiaacademics.org) under Districts and Areas to find the alternate school’s email address and other information. When an alternate school and the state office receives notification that a student will be unable to compete at State, a reply message will serve as the school’s verification that the message has been delivered. In sending the message, include the following: Student’s name who will not be attending, district number, event, and grade level. The message should read something like this: “Sarah Smart, District 2AA 2nd place winner in Spelling 7, will not be attending the State Meet.” The State office already has the name of the eligible alternate; therefore, it is not necessary to state the name.  The district number is a critical piece of information in this notification.  From the District Results from that district, we will be able to determine the school name and all other information.

After the verification period has ended, invite persons wishing to attend the presentation of awards to come into the room. Contest Directors should provide about a five-minute period for entry and seating (if available) for interested parties. Announce individual winners through sixth place, beginning with participation ribbons, if these are provided, then sixth place, then fifth, etc. If the team component is used at the district level, announce team places through third place. Awards will be presented at the end of the verification period at the State Meet in the same room in which the Verification has taken place, unless otherwise indicated. Follow the District Director instructions concerning announcement of winners and awards at the District Meet.

Audiences are required in All PSIA speech events (Prose/Poetry, Impromptu Speaking, Modern Oratory, and Storytelling.) Audiences may be limited due to capacity of room. Audience members are required to maintain silence, turn off all cell phones and pagers, and remain in the contest room throughout the contest. No late entry or early exit is allowed, except with written permission from the district or state director.

Academic district champions may be named, and trophies may be awarded to the winning elementary and/or middle schools, at the discretion of the District Executive Committee. A school must place in at least three events to win a first or second place championship at both the district and state levels. Overall school championship trophies will be awarded at the state level to the “A” and “AA” elementary school (grade levels from 1 through 5) and to the middle school grade levels from 6 through 8), and to the top overall homeschool. Second and third place trophies will also be awarded in the elementary and middle school divisions.

All administrators, students, teachers, coaches, parents, and volunteers must abide by the PSIA Code of Conduct at all times when conducting PSIA business and when attending PSIA academic competition.   This mandate specifically includes prompt and courteous acceptance of the decisions of contest officials and the executives and staff of PSIA.  PSIA reserves the right to adjudicate, determine and communicate all rules, all decisions, and all activities of PSIA.

Participants will …

1. Participate in contests in the spirit of fairness and sportsmanship, observing rules-both in letter and spirit;
2. Sponsor and advise individuals and teams without resorting to unethical tactics, attempting to skirt the rules, or any other unfair tactics which detract from sound educational principles;
3. Accept decisions of officials and judges without protest and extend protection and courtesy to officials;
4. Regard opponents as guests or hosts while placing personal and/or team integrity above victory at any cost. Maintain grace and poise in victory or defeat;
5. At all times, ensure that competition is relative to a more important overall educational effort, using competition as a tool in the preparation of students for citizenship and successful adulthood.

Students may compete as many as two grade levels above their grade or age level in any contest. No student may compete below grade or age level.

In all PSIA contests, the complaint procedure should follow a hierarchy in order that all may be informed and the best outcome may be provided for all involved.

1. If a concern emerges prior to a contest, or during the progress of a contest, the first person to be consulted is the PSIA Coach for the event from the individual’s school.
2. If the coach is unable to clarify the concern, the Campus Director from the individual’s school should be consulted.
3. If the Campus Director is unable to fully address the issue, the District Director (Contest Manager for One-Act Play) should be consulted.
4. If further clarification is needed and/or a ruling is necessary, the State office should be called and the State Director will then make the final decision.
   • If a parent, coach, or interested individual is attending a Verification Period for a contest, and a question arises, the Contest Director is the first person to be addressed. If the Contest Director is unable to answer the question or does not answer to the satisfaction of the complainant, the District Director should be contacted. Because time is limited in the Verification Period, the District Director may seek out and make a ruling in accordance to the PSIA rules, or the State office may be called for a final ruling.
   • Only in the case when a response or ruling from the District Director cannot be obtained in a timely manner, an individual may call the State office. A ruling will then only be made with the participation and knowledge of the District Director and other parties involved.
   • Anyone may write to the State office to express a concern or make a proposal, but there shall be no overturn of decisions made at a tournament following the Verification Period and presentation of awards, except in the case of a posting error. Proposals will be reviewed by the State Advisory Board in June, and the input of all interested parties is always welcomed.

Coaches, contest directors, school administrators and contestants are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of district contest materials through the date of the last district tournament.

Must be followed at District and State, inclusive of time slots for Verification periods. (See page iv of the PSIA Academic Handbook)

Faulty test items may be corrected by the District Director or Contest Director. First, call the PSIA state office to discuss and confirm the needed change. If there is a consensus among the graders, judges and coaches that an answer on the answer key is incorrect, the contest director is authorized to correct the answer key. These decisions must be made before the official results are announced.

No copyrighted play script, book, speech, poem, test, or passage may be photocopied or typed out without the written permission for the publisher.  The “law” includes copyrighted material found on the internet.  (Exception: Published poems or prose pieces may be typed out for use of a student in competition, unless otherwise prohibited.) PSIA is legally obligated to report all such copyright infractions to the publisher.  No PSIA test or handbook material, other than items already posted, my be placed on the internet.  

The step-by-step checklists [in the PSIA Academic Handbook] provide a quick guideline to follow for less experienced Contest Directors for both objective and subjective contests. Directors of contests should be experienced in working with large groups of young people.

All contestants should wear their nicer, but comfortable clothing when participating in a PSIA tournament.  Contestants may wear their school uniforms and/or t-shirts that identify their school in all events, EXCEPT these speech events: Impromptu Speaking, Modern Oratory, Poetry/Prose Interpretation, and Storytelling.  Young men may wear a suit and tie if they wish, or just nice clothing (not shorts), and young ladies may wear dresses of tasteful length, or nice pant suits to present their orations.  

 A contestant in speech contest may also compete in an objective contest held at the same time.
    ° Students in Prose 6-8 may also enter these events in the Preliminary round: Number Sense, On-Site Drawing, and/or Ready Writing and Calculator.
    ° For students in Prose 4/5, dual entry is permitted Ready Writing. 
    ° For Prose 6-8 Finals, contestants may also enter Impromptu, Maps, Vocabulary and Modern Oratory.   ° Storytelling 3, contestants may also enter Ready Writing 3/4.                                                                          
    ° Contestants in Impromptu Speaking FINALS may also be entered in Dictionary Skills, Math, Science, and Listening Skills.
    ° Contestants entered in Modern Oratory may also be entered in either Maps, Graphs & Charts OR Vocabulary.
    • Written notification of speech dual entry SHALL accompany district entries at least 30 days prior to the District Meet.  Arrangements for the contestant to speak first (or early) or last (late) in the round will be made only for those who submitted notification to the meet director in writing at least 30 days prior to the meet.  Notification of dual entry for the State Meet must be submitted in writing (email preferred) at least 14 days prior to the state tournament.  Contestants will NOT be given additional time if contests in which they have been entered in conflict with SPEECH have started when they enter the room.  Only  speech contests named above will have  a dual entry option.
 

FALL WORKSHOPS.

For discussion and review of all the items in this section, plus new rules for contests, PSIA provides 6 or more workshops throughout the state in August and September. The District Director is requested to attend a workshop or send a representative at no cost. For those who are unable to attend a workshop, the PSIA office is open from 8:00 to 5:00 each day, plus most weekends. Please do not hesitate to call 1-888-972-7742 or [contact PSIA] if you should have questions or concerns.

District entry fees of up to $7 must be paid prior to students competing in the District Meet.  Fees MUST be submitted to the District Director at least 30 days prior to the meet.  Contestants’ schools that fail to pay the $8 per entry State fee at least SEVEN days prior to the tournament WILL be disqualified from competition.  Campus program fees of $225 (“A”) and $275 (“AA”) ($45 Home school) for membership and $35 for participation ($20 Home school) in each contest that are paid to the State office are separate from the District entry fees. 

Checklists are provided [in the PSIA Academic Handbook] that will assist graders and judges in understanding the procedures to follow should they be asked to grade or judge an event.

District entry names MUST be submitted to the District Director, or designated host school director, at least 30 days prior to the tournament. Entries submitted after the 30-day deadline will not be accepted.

Late entries defined:

• Late Entry of an Entry Form. Submitting a district meet entry form after the deadline constitutes a late entry.
• Late Entry of an Event. Entry in an event not entered by a school prior to the deadline.
• Late Entry of an Individual. Entry of an individual to fill a place left vacant on the district meet entry form after the deadline constitutes a late entry.

• Speech. Schools may hold additional speech contests (e.g., Duet Acting).
• Additional Grade Levels. With the approval of the District Executive Committee, additional grade levels may be tested in a contest at district level only.
• Others. Districts may pilot contests that are not described in the PSIA Academic Handbook, or districts may alter other high school contests to become appropriate for a particular grade level.

Contestants in optional contests do not advance to PSIA State competition.

• A letter similar to that found In the appendix of the current year PSIA Academic Handbook shall go out as the cover letter to parents when complete information is sent home from a school regarding the student’s participation in the PSIA program. Included in the letter are expectations to follow the PSIA Code of Conduct, read all the rules for the contests in which their child will be participating, and read and comply with other guidelines provided by the school. This signed letter should come back to the PSIA campus director, indicating that the parent has read and understands the rules and procedures for participating in the PSIA program.

Participant elementary and middle schools and individuals may not conduct or sponsor PSIA contests on Sunday. Individuals are not prohibited from preparing for an event on Sunday. Schools may conduct tournaments on all other days of the week. No “special consideration” testing may be conducted apart from the regularly scheduled contest times in accordance to the Conflict Pattern. No contests, such as Ready Writing, may be held at the individual campus and sent somewhere for judging. All contestants MUST compete together in the same contest room in a grade-level event.

Grade levels may be combined at the district level if there are FEWER than 3 entries in a grade. Grade levels should not be combined if at least 3 contestants are entered at a grade level.

• Individual families may enroll to compete if their private school has not chosen to compete as a campus. If more than 5 families from a private school compete, the school must be classified as a campus. Individual participants from “AA” non-participating schools must compete in the “AA” classification.
• For every 2.25 entries at the district or state level of competition, schools and individuals will be required to provide at least one adult or knowledgeable high school or college student to assist with the administration of the tournament.  
• Failure to provide needed or requested positions will be cause for penalty of 20 points per occurrence, probabtion for one year for 2 or more occurrences, and dismissal from the program if all positions are not filled the following year.
• Home Schools with only one or two entries will also be required to provide assistance at the meets.
• Each school must provide a waiver of liability for travel and participation in the program. Individual campus directors must keep on file their participants’ waivers, along with the signed “Parent Commitment Letter.”
• All entry fees, plus invoices 30 days old must be paid prior to the meet.

• Each participating school shall be required to provide at least one adult or senior high school position for every 2.25 entries in the tournament at both the District and State levels of competition. Persons may serve in more than one position, but they must be prepared to complete the task of one position prior to departing to begin the other.

• Contest Director (may be a knowledgeable coach)
• Assistant Director (should be a knowledgeable coach from a different school than that of the director)
• Graders (3 for every 15 papers)

• Contest Director (may be a knowledgeable coach)
• Assistant Director (should be a knowledgeable coach from a different school than the director’s)
• Judges (an odd number, preferably 3 – none should know any students in the contest) If judging writing, additional judges should be provided to expedite preliminary judgment of writings.

Neither are allowed during any contest, verification period or performance of One Act Play.  Additionally, all cell phones, pagers, radios, etc. should be turned OFF and put away by audience members attending an event.  Disruption could be cause for dismissal from the room.  Repeated disruption shall be cause for disqualification of that school’s contestant.  Picture taking is prohibited during verification periods, but welcomed during the awards presentation. 

See “PSIA Point System” in the appendix [of the PSIA Academic Handbook] to determine correct point awards for each contest. Most individual contest points are 1st = 15; 2nd = 12; 3rd = 10; 4th = 8; 5th = 6; 6th = 4.

In both writing and speech contests, neither expletive references to any diety nor “curse words” are allowed.  All such references must me removed from presentations, or the contestant(s) must be disqualified from competition.  

Event Contest Directors should return each of the following items to the Meet Director immediately after scoring the contest:

• Meet Evaluation Form, with a list of no-show persons/schools who were scheduled to work in the contest, plus pertinent comments or suggestions for improving the contest.
• Contest Roster on which ALL contestants’ scores are posted in PENCIL.
  

Following the Verification and Awards Period, return the following to the Tab Room: 

• Completed “Contest Results Form” in BLACK ink.
• Labeled awards that were not presented at the awards ceremony. Indicate on the Contest Roster by the contestant’s name if an award item was not presented.
• If the contest is held prior to the release date, place identified tests, keys and answer sheets in designated areas in the tabulation room.  Place unissued awards in designated area of the tab room.   

District meets may be held at the discretion of the participating schools in a district on any date(s) [in the time frame established by the State Director each year].

Arrangements shall be made through the State PSIA office for adaptations to be made for special needs (ie. hearing impaired) students to compete. Submit to the Executive Director requests in writing, along with ARD or other medical documentation at least 5 weeks prior to the tournament for approval.  Emailed (info@psiaacademics.org) or faxed (817) 421-0929 documentation with attachments is acceptable.  Letters of approval and the description of the special needs adaptation tto be made, if approved, will be faxed on PSIA letterhead to the requesting school and to the District Director.  The District Director will then provide the information to the Contest Director to ensure that the adaptation is carried out as approved.  Since a student’s entry into a contest may be dependent on the approval of the special needs adaptation, submission at the earliest possible date is recommended.  NO REQUEST WILL BE APPROVED IF SUBMITTED AFTER THE 5-WEEK DEADLINE PRIOR TO THE DISTRICT MEET. 

Substitutions may be made at the district level for contestants who will be unable to compete for whatever reason deemed appropriate by the school. A name must be entered on the entry form in order for a substitution to be made. Substitutions may be made up until time for the contest to begin, as long as the transaction is posted with the Contest Director when roll is called, and the contestant knows whose place he/she is taking.

Districts may elect to combine the scores of students from a school to constitute a team score and award additional points for the top three teams competing at the District Meet at each level of this contest. A school must have three entries to be eligible to receive the additional team ranking points. Team award points are 8 for 1st place, 6 for 2nd place, and 4 for 3rd place.

In contests in which a tie cannot be broken, tied individuals or teams split the total points equally for the two or more places in which a tie exists. Each tied contestant receives the same award for the tied place. If there is a tie for 1st place, there is no second place; if there is a tie for 2nd place, there is no 3rd place; if there are multiple ties for a place (for example: in a three-way tie for 2nd place, places 2, 3 and 4 all receive 2nd place ranking, then the next place awarded is 5th. ALSO, if at least 4 students competed in the grade level of the 2nd place tied contestant, all tied contestants advance to State.) There can be no ties in any subjective contests.

The Contest Director, with assistant(s), is required to set aside a QUIET verification period of 15 minutes for contestants and/or ONE adult from each school to review their own tests WITH keys prior to the announcement of official results.  No pens, pencils, papers or cell phones, cameras or any items other than those specified for the contest (example: dictionary or atlas) may be in contestants’ hands or in the area of the contest papers throughout this quiet period. By raising hand, questions should be directed during this 15-minute period to the Contest Director, who will contact the State office for a ruling, if necessary.  Anyone may call the State office if a concern is not being addressed. If an error is found in the test, key, or scoring, all papers affected by the error shall be rescored. Contestants must remain QUIETLY in the verification room until dismissed by the Contest Director. If tests must be rescored, a time and place to reassemble for a 5-minute QUIET re-evaluation before awards should be announced. Tests taken from the contest room prior to release constitutes student disqualification. No photo’s of test may be taken.  The test release dates for 2012 are March 31 for District and May 5 for State. No changes in scores or ranking will be allowed after awards have been issued. Posting errors may be corrected on a limited basis with State approval.

If a contestant scores 100% in ANY contest at the District or State level, Contest Directors should notify the Meet Director who will verify the perfect score and fax the form provided in the contest materials found in the index of the PSIA Academic Handbook to the State office within a week of completion of the meet: (817) 421-0929.