Students for a Creative Iowa

Special Scheduling Request

Jan 262015

Just a quick reminder that the last day for Tournament scheduling requests to be made is 3 weeks before the event. For the 2015 season, that means that the deadline for sub-state is February 7th and for state is March 7th.

If you do not notify us by this date, it is your team’s responsibility to contact another team in the same Challenge and Level, and exchange times with them, and to NOTIFY us of the change ahead of time.

Send all special scheduling requests to cre8iowa@gmail.com. Make sure you include your team number (112-XXXXX), your reason for the special request, and the general time frame that you wished to be scheduled for both your Instant Challenge and your Central Challenge. Please note that special scheduling requests are not guaranteed to be granted. All requests are evaluated based on merit.

For this and other policies or procedures, please refer to our Tournament Policies page.

So what is a clarification?

team support

Jan 142015

At this point in the DI season, team members are busy brainstorming ideas, putting together solution components, and in general letting their creativity carry them away. But before your imaginations carry you too far away, your team should be aware of one of the must under used resources: clarifications. There are two types of clarifications: published and team. The purpose of a clarification is to explain the boundaries of a stated rule or Challenge requirement.

Published clarifications are changes to a Challenge or the Rules of the Road that International Challenge Masters (the people that are in charge of the Team Challenges) feel that all teams should know. Check out the published clarification found on the Destination Imagination Clarifications webpage. All teams are expected to know the published clarifications and they take precedence over the Challenge and Rules of the Road. In other words, clarifications will be used by the Appraisers at tournament and so your team should know all the changes being made to the Challenge.

Did your team know that they can ask solution specific questions of the International Challenge Masters? If your team has a question about whether or not something is allowable as part of their solution and cannot find the answer in the Challenge, the Rules of the Road, and the Iowa Tournament Policies, then your team should ask a team-only clarification question. Your question and answer will not be shared with any other team. You can ask 10 clarification questions of the International Challenge Masters, but the deadline to do so is February 15th.

To ask a team only clarification, you will need to login into the DII Resource Area and go to the ‘Team’ tab on the header bar and then select ‘clarifications’ from the drop-down menu. You will then see a button ‘Ask Clarification’. From there you fill out the form and submit your question.

Need help getting into the DII Resource Area? Check out the below detailed videos to get access to the DII Resource Area.

Resources from other Affiliates

team support

Dec 172014

Did you know that cre8iowa is one of 80 affiliate that promote the Destination Imagination program around the world? There are many resources from other affiliates that Iowa DI-ers should check out. Below are just a few of the cool resources offered by other affiliates!

Challenge Orientation Webinars for Team Managers and Coordinators
- California DI has recorded an orientation webinar for each of this year’s Challenges. Check them out for more information and some tips about each Challenge!
Instant Challenge Kits (for purchase)
- Wisconsin DI has created Instant Challenge kits that anyone can purchase. Each kit contains 20 Instant Challenges and the necessary materials.
New Team Manager Training Video
- Destination Imagination Colorado recorded one of their online training session for new Team Managers. Take a look at the video below. I would recommend starting the video at about the 15:30 mark. The first fifteen minutes deal with Colorado state specifics.

Register for the 2015 Instant Challenger Workshop

workshops

Dec 142014

The Instant Challenger workshop is an in-person training for your team to gain valuable practice and feedback from experienced cre8iowa volunteers.The way it works is that each team is given individualized attention for a period of 2 hours, beginning at 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., or 2:30 p.m. Once your team arrives, it will split its time between two rooms; one room focuses on performance-based Instant Challenges and the other focuses on task-based Instant Challenges. Experienced volunteers will work with your team on how to solve Instant Challenges.

How to register
You can request a reservation for your team by completely filling out form at the link below. You will need to fill out a form for each team you wish to register for this workshop. Once your registration form is received, you will receive an email from cre8iowa, letting you know whether the time you requested is available. Then you will be asked to mail in your check or purchase order for $20 per team, or to pay by credit card via PayPal. (It is not necessary for you to have a PayPal account.) Your payment must arrive within 10 days of the confirmation email being sent. You must pay by credit card via PayPal if you are registering on or after January 2, 2015. Registration closes on Monday, January 12th.

Please note that the limited space is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

2015 ICer Workshop Registration Form

Date

January 17, 2015
9:30 – 11:30 am, 12:30 – 2:30 pm, or 2:30 – 4:30 pm

Cost
$20 per team (this fee helps offset the cost of materials used by your team).

Address
Ames Middle School, 3915 Mortensen Road, Ames, IA 50014

What to bring
You will need your team and an adult chaperone. Teams MUST be accompanied by an adult. If you have multiple teams, they will be in different rooms, so you will need to arrange for adult accompaniment. You may also wish to bring a checkbook or cash to purchase items from our sales table that may be helpful to you and your team(s). These items include books, games and activities. All workshop materials are covered by your registration fee.

Reminder to recruit for Appraisers

appraisers

Dec 082014

In Iowa, all teams are required to provide a trained volunteer that will serve at both the sub-state and state tournament as an Appraiser. While you still have some time before Iowa Membership registrations are due to make a final decision about who will serve as the team’s Appraiser, we recommend recruiting an individual now. Check out the information below to get a better understanding about who, what, where, when, why, and how of being an Appraiser.

What is an Appraiser?

An Appraiser is an adult volunteer (18+ years) who assess the teams’ solutions at tournament after being trained to evaluate one or more DI Challenges

Why are Appraisers required?

Students for a Creative Iowa requires a volunteer from each team to ensure that all teams have an adequate number of well-trained Appraisers to watch, enjoy, and award points for team performances at each tournament. Each Challenge and Instant Challenge room needs its own Appraisal team and so each team helps fulfill that need.

What makes a “good” Appraiser?

A good Appraiser is comfortable working as part of a team, is able to appraiser without bias, enjoys working with students and celebrating their creativity, and honors their commitment to attend training and serve at tournament.

What is an Appraiser volunteering to do?

Each Appraiser makes a three-day time commitment to spend one full day of training, one full Saturday at the Sub-state tournament, and one full Saturday at the Iowa State tournament in Ames.

How does an Appraiser become trained?

Each Appraisers chooses to attend one of three different training workshops held Saturdays in January or February. There is a training workshop held in a Western, Eastern, and Central location respectively. Go to http://www.cre8iowa.org/current-season/calendar/ for more information.

Who do I recruit an Appraiser?

As with everything else in DI, team members are responsible for recruiting an Appraiser. Teams typically ask parents, other family members, or friends of the family to fill this role. But the volunteer does not have to be related to the team in order to serve. For example, you as the Team Manager can recruit individuals you personally know. For more ideas, please look at the How-to-Find-Appraisers document.

Do Iowa Appraisers serve at Global Finals in Knoxville, TN?

The trained Iowa Appraisers will NOT be required to appraise at Global Finals. If you are interested in appraising down at Global Finals, then please email us at cre8iowa@gmail.com for more information.

Can a Team Manager serve as the Team’s Appraiser?

If a team has only one Team Manager, he or she may not also be the team’s Appraiser or Volunteer since teams are not allowed to be at Tournament without adult supervision.

Can related individuals serve as Appraisers?

While related Appraisers may volunteer at the Iowa Tournaments, they may not serve on the same Appraisal team (i.e. not in the same Challenge or Instant Challenge room).

Will my Appraiser be able to watch our team?

The team’s Appraiser is NOT allowed to leave the assigned Challenge site to watch the appraiser’s represented team perform.

Why would I want to be an Appraiser?

Being an Appraiser is a very rewarding experience. We have Appraisers that volunteer each and every year, because they enjoy interacting with the teams so much. It is also a critical role as we would not be able to hold our tournaments without these very important volunteers. For more reasons check out Top Reasons to Be An Appraiser.

Questions?

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