Application for the 2019-2020 Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Name M F
Address
City
State/Province Zip/Postal Code
Telephone ( ) E-mail
Date of Birth / / Age
Have you participated in any other Optimist Club’s Communication Contest for the Deaf
and Hard of Hearing this school year?
Yes
No
Audiologist Verification:
I verify that the contestant listed above has a hearing loss of 40 decibels or more.
Signature Date / /
Title
Contestant Agreement:
I have studied the rules of the contest, and I will be bound by all of the requirements.
Contestant’s Signature Date / /
Parent or Guardian Permission:
I give my permission for my child/ward to participate in this contest.
Signature Date / /
Relationship
I, grant the Optimist Club/International my permission
to use a picture of my son/daughter for their public relations
purposes. Optimist Club/International may use the photo in any publication they see fit.
Sponsoring Optimist Club Name
Sponsoring Optimist Club Number
Please send application to address below:
Topic:
“Just iMagine a World without Boundaries"
Official Rules
Section I - General Rules
1. Contestants must enter through a local Optimist
Club.
2. The CCDHH District Chair is responsible for all
phases of the contest and his or her rulings in
accordance with the official rules are final.
3. All competitions must be conducted by Optimists
only.
4. The contest date, time and place will be
determined by the Contest Chair.
5. All contestants must comply with the official
rules
of the contest.
6. The official application must be completed by
each contestant and submitted to the sponsoring
Club’s Contest Chair.
7. All Zone, Regional and District level contests
must have a minimum of 3 contestants
participating.
8. Scholarship must be used in a school located in
the United States, Canada or Caribbean. All
scholarships will be administered by Optimist
International
Section II - Qualifications for Contestants
1. The contest is open to young people through grade
12 in the United States and Canada, to CEGEP in
Quebec and grade 13 in the Caribbean. Contestants
must have an uncorrected hearing loss of 40 decibels
or more in order to be eligible to participate..
Participants must submit an audiogram (or a
Cochlear Implant Programming Report) done
within 24 months of the date of the contest from a
qualified audiologist.
2. Contestants are eligible for only one Club’s
contest during any given year.
3. Each contestant must prepare his or her own
presentation with limited assistance on content.
Improvements to the presentation can be made at
any time.
4. A contestant who has won a District CCDHH or
CCHI scholarship is not eligible to compete at any
level of the competition again.
Section III - Contest Rules
1. All contestants must make a presentation on the
official contest topic and submit a typed copy of
the speech.
2. Contestants can present in sign language, orally
or using a combination of both.
3. Presentations may be delivered in a language
other than English if the language used is the
official language of the country in which the
sponsoring Club is located.
4. The interpreter is to be provided by the
sponsoring Optimist Club/Zone/District.
5. All contestants must give the official contest
topic in the first sentence of their presentation. If
a contestant fails to do this, a 3-point penalty
will be automatically assessed by the timekeeper.
6. Any quotation or copyrighted material used in the
presentation must be identified with the original
author’s name. Failure to identify non-original
material will result in disqualification.
7. The use of props, special costumes or clothing,
or the use of prompters will not be permitted.
The penalty will be disqualification. Notes and
lecterns can be used if the contestant desires.
8. The time limit is not under 4 minutes and no
longer than 5 minutes. Contestants going over or
under will not be cautioned, and will be penalized
one point for each 15 seconds or fraction of over or
under the time limits. This penalty will be
assessed by the timekeeper.
9. Timing will begin immediately after the official
topic is given. Timing will stop when the
contestant finishes.
10. No reference can be made that identifies the
contestant, parents, school, community, sponsoring
Optimist Club or District. This will result in a
deduction of 5 points or a fraction of based on the
degree of identification.
11. Contestants must not be identified by name,
school or sponsoring Club until all judges have
left the room.
12. Any protest in the conduct at any level of this
contest must be made immediately after the
condition is noted. Protests received after the next
contestant has been introduced, or in the case of
the last contestant, after the judges leave to total
the scores, will not be accepted under any
circumstances.
13. The Contest Chair will rule on all protests in
accordance with the official rules. The
decision of the Contest Chair is final and no
higher appeals will be recognized.
Section IV- Judging and Timing
1. Each contest must have three judges, one
timekeeper and one certified interpreter.
2. The judges must be qualified to evaluate the
presentation methods of all contestants with or
without the assistance of an interpreter. (If all
contestants are using sign language then at least
one of the judges can be a deaf judge.)
3. The judges and timekeepers must not be identified
in any pre-publicity or at the contest until after the
contest has been completed.
4. Judges are not permitted to discuss or compare
scores or opinions on any of the contestants with
anyone or each other. Judges must evaluate each
presentation independently.
5. The judges’ scores and penalties are confidential
and should not be viewed by anyone except the
Contest Chair.
Section V - Scoring
1. Material Organization – subject adherence,
theme, content, color and logic. The
maximum point award is 40 points.
2. Delivery & Presentation – delivery, gestures
and emphasis. The maximum point award is
30 points.
3. Overall Effectiveness – appeal, impression,
attitude and effect. The maximum point award
is 30 points.
Section VI - Penalties
1. Failure to give official topic in the first sentence –
3 points
2. Failure to identify non-original material
- disqualification
3. Use of props, etc. – disqualification
4. Time penalties – 1 points for each 15 seconds
or fraction of over or under the limit
5. Self-identification – 5 points or fraction of
based on degree of identification
For more information contact:
SPONSORING CLUB SHOULD POST
CONTACT INFORMATION HERE
Contact person:
_____________________________________
Contact address:
Contact phone or email:
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