Parents and Students: Novice Nationals is just a few weeks away on March 27-28th at Iowa City West High School. This is a tremendous experience for our students. All of our novices are eligible to compete. But, of course, we have challenges that weekend:
1). Congress Quals are on Saturday in Carroll. Either Nate or I should go on that trip. We will need a parent or two to help drive to Carroll early that day and help bring students back at the end of the day. There is no judging in Carroll.
2). We will most likely need transportation to and from Iowa City on Friday around 11am from Roosevelt and back Saturday night. Normally we are finished around 6pm, and following awards head out to the Amana Colonies for a required German dinner which is a lot of fun. Here they learn important things about the history of our program. Students needs to include the cost of that meal on the trip. Novice Nationals are kind of a bonding trip for the first year students.
Surviving the Amanas meal is part of the experience.
We will also need judges in Iowa City. We probably will need at least two parents to drive and judge. These should be novice parents. I would really like it if Scott Bandstra and Andy Roat be available to judge. But I can make about any combination of parent judges work unless I get overloaded in LD students.
Students will stay with Iowa City West families on Friday night. We will get hotel rooms for the rest of us--although the program is rapidly running out of $$$. We should be able to swing something to cover everyone.
After this tournament, the novices are finished for the season. Banquet details will be announced and the banquet is in May.
