You can view the newsletter in its original format here.
WINTER BOARD MEETING ROUND-UP
January 23 TTAO Business Meeting Minutes
TTAO AWARD RECIPIENTS
About the awards:
The TTAO Service Award shall be bestowed on a member or members in recognition for outstanding service to the organization beyond the duties of a particular office, role or assignment. The TTAO Service Award will honor a member of TTAO or continuous and significant service to the TTAO organization.
The TTAO Legacy Award shall be bestowed upon a member or members in recognition for substantial history of contributions and advocacy for educational theatre in Texas and particular support and development of the UIL One-Act Play competition. Recipients may not be current Board or Standard & Practices Committee members. Recipients should be retired Adjudicators and Contest Managers.
Legacy Award Winners:
Kathy Barber – 2022
Maureen V. McIntyre – 2022
Service Award Winner:
Mark Pickell – 2022
C. LEE TURNER REAL CHANGE
What is the C. Lee Turner Real Change Campaign?
Real Change is TTAO’s fundraising campaign to place needed dollars into our socio-economically disadvantaged schools and communities.
Money raised will be used to fund:
- TxETA convention attendance
- Summer Drama camp tuitions
- Clinics
- Guest artists
- We believe these activities change lives and helps expand theatre in our communities which affects our society as a whole.
We challenge you to be part of the real change, and as you accept your contracts for this upcoming UIL OAP season, think about donating and being the difference in implementing Real Change.
Our goal is $22,000
Is it possible? YES!
This campaign is for all TTAO members- adjudicators and contest managers alike. The suggestion is 10% of a contest fee earned for the year. Please consider donating today at the link below.
Upcoming On-site Contest Manager Training
March 1-2, 2022 Panola College, Carthage, TX
Training at Bi-District 2A, District 22 Contest
**Registration is open from Feb 4 -21, 2022 or until full
Visit here for more details.
REMINDER: If you are an adjudicator participating in a clinic this season, please submit the CONFLICT FORM found on the UIL website under forms for Contest Managers and Meet Officials.
http://www.uiltexas.org/theatre/resources-forms
GEARING UP FOR CONTEST SEASON
BRUSH UP ON THE TTAO CODE OF ETHICS
- Adjudicators shall only use TTAO Connect to accept agreements for official UIL Contests.
- Adjudicators shall avoid any behavior that might be interpreted as favoritism by contest participants.
- Adjudicators shall not discuss negatively other adjudicators or fellow panelists with directors or school officials. Such criticism of other adjudicators shall be made in writing to Chair of TTAO.
- Adjudicators shall correct mistakes immediately. When contest managers misread or give awards incorrectly, stop the process before the situation becomes more complicated. Speak up. Don’t wait. Mistakes discovered during critiques should be corrected.
- Adjudicators shall not confer with anyone before they have made their decision.
- Adjudicators shall respect the confidentiality of information that is privileged or that, if disclosed, may needlessly injure individuals or schools.
The full list can be found here
VIDEOS AND PHOTOS TAKEN AT CONTEST
A friendly reminder:
Contest Managers and Adjudicators should not take or post pictures of a contest (pre contest, actual shows, or post contest) without written consent from parents, students, and/or anyone else in the photo or video. TTAO believes best practice is not to photo or record at all.
Likewise any teacher, student, or parent who would like to video or record an adjudicator’s critique must receive explicit permission from the adjudicator beforehand. Adjudicators may politely decline.
TTAO AND SOCIAL MEDIA
UIL and TTAO strongly discourage adjudicators from posting results of contests they adjudicate on social media. If you are a Contest Manager and you want to post results, please include your title as contest manager when posting.
Please realize that any comment about a contest you have judged could either:
Influence another adjudicator’s opinion about the quality of the work you saw even if you mean it in a very general way.
Compel other panelists to post an equally praising post.
General Rule of Thumb: Don’t post anything about your contests if you are in doubt.
Some other Social Media Considerations:
1. Consider unfollowing or unfriending on Facebook high school directors of shows you may adjudicate during a contest season. This could help to eliminate the impression of impropriety because you would remove yourself from seeing anything that director may post about his/her show. Unfollowing may be the easiest method to reverse after contest season.
2. Be aware that directors, administrators, parents and students can and sometimes will search and find your social media postings. Be careful about posting things/photos that could give an unhappy person ammunition to potentially use against you in a complaint.
3. Join the following for important updates, reminders and connections to your fellow adjudicators and/or contest managers:
– Texas Theatre Adjudicators & Officials Facebook page
– TTAO/UIL One Act Play Adjudicators Facebook page
4. Be active and connect with your fellow adjudicators through social media to create a supportive professional community.
STATEMENTS I AGREED TO AS AN ADJUDICATOR
- I understand that TTAO’s official Core Values are as follows: EDUCATION – Our priority is theatre education for students and their teachers. Our policies serve to improve theatre training within the UIL contest framework. DIVERSITY – We celebrate differences and include all the varied voices that represent students and the communities we serve. INTEGRITY – We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards. We expect and practice personal and professional integrity. TRANSPARENCY – We commit to open communication and access to information, including governing documents. This instills trust and insures accountability. SERVICE – We serve our learning community by bringing our knowledge, experience, and leadership to students and teachers through professional training that instills confidence and provides growth
- I understand and agree to abide my TTAO’s Policy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at One-Act Play Contests: The Texas Theatre Adjudicators and Officials organization supports and promotes the diversity of plays, directors, and students in today’s UIL One Act Play competition. As advocates for all forms of educational theatre in the state of Texas, Contests Managers and Adjudicators shall not knowingly make discriminatory statements or decisions, ensuring that personal bias is removed and that each performance evaluation is aligned with the official UIL rubric.
- I understand that it is my responsibility to make sure that the clinic conflict form is complete and turned into the UIL state office. I understand that it is an ethics violation if I fail to turn in a clinic conflict sheet for any clinic in which I take part.
- I will not participate in another adjudicator’s oral critique. I understand that I am to only orally critique the shows that I drew. I will use the written critique to communicate anything to the other companies I do not speak to.
- I will not use other adjudicators’ written evaluations as the basis or part of my oral critique. I understand that I am to deliver my own thoughts and ideas to the company and not read my colleagues’ work to companies during this time.
- I understand that it is my responsibility to report to the Contest Manager immediately if I believe a member of the panel I am serving on is not of sound mind to carry out their duties as an Adjudicator. I further understand that if I wait to report an incident after the contest is over, that it may be too late for appropriate action to take place.
- I understand that I may NOT be listed as a director on any official OAP entry (High School or Middle School) this coming school year in order to be eligible to judge.
- I understand that TTAO has a defined process for an Adjudicator to follow regarding payment issues after a contest that can be found in the Manual of Operations at www.ttao.org.
- I understand that TTAO has a thorough and defined Conflict of Interest Policy for Adjudicators, which can be found at www.ttao.org. I further agree to familiarize myself with and adhere to that Conflict of Interest Policy.
- I understand that the UIL State Theatre Director chooses and assigns all upper level judges (Area, Region, and State adjudicators) each year
- I understand that Adjudicators shall accept only 6 official UIL contests unless the State Theatre Director approves additional contests for emergency/just cause. A district’s zone contests are considered 1 official contest. (Note: This does not restrict the number of workshops, clinics, or festivals in which the adjudicator participates, AND does NOT include junior high/middle school contests, non-UIL contests, or the UIL State Contest.) I know that it is my responsibility to assure that I do not exceed the six contest limit as outlined above in a given season.
- I will not speak about any contest show to other adjudicators on a panel until all judge rankings have officially been submitted to the Contest Manager.
- I understand that an ensemble All Star Cast or Honorable Mention All Star Cast award is reserved only for a group of actors who cannot be identified as individuals.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NEWLY ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS AND STANDARDS AND PRACTICES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
These members will begin their terms in June 2022.
TTAO Board of Directors
*Communication Director-Elect. – Carla Schumann
*Treasurer-Elect/Historian – Larry Carpenter
*Director-At-Large – Kelsey Altom Kling
*Director-At-Large – Phillip Morgan
Standards & Practices Committee
*Region 2 Adjudicator – Jenae Yerger-Glanton
*Region 2 Contest Manager – Kelly Parker
*Region 4 Adjudicator – Scott Schumann
*Region 4 Contest Manager – Mike Doggett
CORE VALUES COMMITTEE – APPOINTED POSITIONS
CORE Values Director – Rachel Harrah
Region I – Zachery Kocorek-Gentry
Region II – Amy Jordan
Region III – Norma Thomas
Region IV – Rosendo DeLeon
At-Large – Kim Kao Hines
At-Large – Aaron Brown
REMINDERS
The “Help” page has been updated with FAQs. https://connect.ttao.org/#!/help
GOT QUESTIONS?
As we gear up for a new OAP season, be sure you know how to stay in touch with TTAO.
1. TTAO Website
2. TTAO SMORE Newsletters
3. TTAO Adjudicator FB Group
4. Via Email
5. TTAO Connect Events Tab
Also, don’t forget you can email support@ttao.org if you have any questions!
