Additional Adult Volunteers
Every team is asked to supply two additional volunteers to work at our tournaments.
Appraisers
First, every team is asked to supply an adult volunteer, called an Appraiser, to help evaluate team solutions at our competitions. These volunteers are vital to making the program run, so the commitment is not to be taken lightly!
Appraisers are trained to evaluate and score a team solution according to specific criteria specified by Destination Imagination. Appraisers may be anyone 18 years or older who can give up a couple Saturdays of their time: a training day in late January/early February, and then a tournament day in March.
There are some important things to remember when talking to a potential appraiser:
- They must attend training
- They will not be able to watch their team member perform, so they need to consider the time requirement in March (we typically schedule appraisers on the weekend opposite their associated team’s performance unless otherwise indicated).
- Teams are assessed a $100 fee if they don’t fulfill their obligation.
Our Appraiser Center has a more complete description of what is required of an Appraiser.
Two-Hour Volunteer
In addition to the Appraiser, every team is asked to provide a two-hour volunteer at the tournament. This person fulfills an assigned shift at the tournament (we do schedule them around the team’s performance). Tasks assigned to these people might include being a door monitor for a challenge, working the NH-DI Concessions table, preparing lunch for our appraisers, or running team scores just to name a few possibilities.
This position requires no advanced training or preparation; they just show up, we’ll show them what to do, and they are finished in 2 hours. The only important thing to remember when recruiting this person is that they have to attend and fulfill their shift in order to make the tournament a fun experience for the teams and their parents!
Where to Find Adult Volunteers
The additional volunteers can be a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, a family friend, or a teacher, just to name a few possibilities. NH-DI can help you locate appraisers if you get stuck, but ask around and be sure to tell potential appraisers how much fun it can be to see what kids can do when we grown-ups get out of their way!
Ideally, the adult volunteers should not be the team manager; you have enough to do!