Saturday and a DI day-
So, even when I'm not working, I have to get up early to pick up two others and drive to Carl Junction (2.5 hours) to a "training day". We arrived on time and I find out the challenge I'll be judging. It is a challenge none of the kids at my school are doing, so I won't have a conflict of interest when I'm judging. I also learned the ins and out of the challenge and what part I'll be judging. With only 8 teams competing, it seems amazing that I'll have to get up at 5 am to get there in time.
So, just because I am subbing for a teacher who is in charge of DI at our school, I've gotten roped into all sorts of activities surrounding this DI event, including Judging for 2 events and today's training day. Here's some things I'm wondering about...
There are 5 teams of kids participating at our school. Each team has about 7 kids on them. Out of roughly 35 kids, I couldn't scare up 5 parents willing to be a judge for their kid. Out of our 5 judges, one is a teacher from the school and I had to be one. Me. A substitute. One Mom only stepped up when it was made clear that the team would have to pay a LOT more to participate since they didn't have a judge. Each team also has a volunteer. Two of our volunteers are HS students. Only three parents stepped up. Out of all teams, only one is really close to ready to go. That means I'll need to schedule weekend practice, which is time from my life I don't get paid for.
The question I get often is why is Carl Junction always the place we have to go to to compete and why is the state competitions held in Joplin. So, my answer has been that carl Junction really supports DI and it shows when they win so often and go on to globals on such a regular basis that they have a golf tournament every year as a fund raiser.
Today, while the judge and manager meetings were going on, the school was FULL of kids working on projects. There were groups meeting everywhere and backdrops being painted in several hallways. There's a community of support there that goes way beyond what we are struggling with at our school. I can't get 5 parents to step up to support their own kids.
It's shameful.