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Timers

Participating as a timer at the national finals is an important job. Please watch the Timers' Video to help prepare you for the national finals. All hearings on Saturday and Sunday are ten minutes long (four minutes for the opening statement and six minutes for follow-up questions). On Monday the hearings are extended to fifteen minutes (four minutes for the opening statement and eleven minutes for follow-up questions).

Timers' Orientation Video

Facilitators are responsible for escorting in a timely fashion a panel of judges to the hearing rooms. Once in a hearing room facilitators officially welcome everyone. Facilitators are also responsible for distributing score sheets to the judges and collecting them after the hearings.
facilitator1

Room Supervisors are responsible for monitoring hearing rooms and greeting teachers, students, visitors, and judges. During the competition room supervisors control access to the hearing rooms.

Floor Supervisors are responsible for greeting classes upon arrival at the competition. They are also responsible for directing classes, parents, visitors, and other guests to the student briefing room and the hearing rooms. After the completion of class hearings, the floor supervisors help direct classes to their buses. They also inspect the hearing rooms to make sure they are ready for the next division of classes. Floor supervisors are always ready to handle any problems that may arise.

crowd control2

Scorers are responsible for tabulating the judges' score sheets for each of the fifty-two classes. The scoring team includes six volunteers.

Scoring works like this: six different panels of three judges score each of the six units for a total of eighteen judges' score sheets. Each class testifies on one question on Saturday and testifies again on a different question on Sunday (3 judge panels x 6 units x 2 days = 36 score sheets).

Each score sheet includes six criteria, and each criterion is worth ten points. The highest possible score for each score sheet is 60 points. Each unit is judged by three judges; therefore, the highest possible unit score is 180 points. Because there are six units, the highest possible class score is 1,080 points. Because classes testify on two days, the highest possible total class score is 2,160 points.

Classes qualify for the top ten by earning combined scores from the first two days of competition. The national winner is determined by doubling the third-day scores and adding them to the total scores for the first two days. The highest score possible for the national finals is 4,320 points.

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