General Information

MAIN HEADQUARTERS

The main office will serve as our headquarters and will be open at 7:00 am to start answering all your questions. Please bring any drops and/or substitutes to the office when you arrive. The office can also help you store any coach’s personal belongings/valuable items that you do not want to store in the gym.

TEAM HEADQUARTERS

The main gym will serve as speech team headquarters for all students and coaches. Ratings will be posted here.  There will be a second gym available in the PCE building if the middle school gym is full.

CONTEST CENTERS

All contest centers will begin promptly at 8:00 am and should conclude before 4:00 pm. Check out the schedule tab on this website for more information. Reminder: be early to your performance time and be sure to tell your parents/family the centers may run ahead of schedule. We would hate for them to miss a performance, but the show must go on as time allows. Make sure to notify your parents, families, and spectators of your school code, so they can follow along with the schedule.

COACH REMINDERS

Complete contest programs will be available for purchase at the audience entrance doors for $2.

If there are problems or mistakes with the schedule, please email contest managers Janice Davis and/or Brooke Grett at jdavis@pcmschools.org and bgrett@pcmschools.org 

Distance from the contest site will be taken into consideration, but please be respectful of the schedule, especially if your school has numerous entries and category conflicts. 

BALLOTS

Please remember a ballot for each performance. Copies of ballots will be available in the office for $1 per set if you happen to forget yours.

Remind your students that judges will give oral comments at district contest at the end of their performance.

They are also not to speak to judges at any point during the contest day about their performance.

At the conclusion of your contest day, once all of your ratings have been POSTED, we will distribute your comment sheets to you. Please wait until the end of you performance times and rating postings to pick up comment sheets after all ratings are posted. If you wish to leave before your ratings are posted, you must leave a heavily stamped self-addressed envelope in the office before you leave.

Throughout the day, coaches should be with their students enjoying performances and most importantly supervising them and helping keep the hallways quiet. Only music players used for contest entries should be brought to contest and played when warming up or in performance use. Remember that we are all part of the IHSSA Family. Let's have a wonderful speech day!!!

WEATHER

Weather in Iowa is challenging. If we would need to delay or postpone for weather-related reasons, we will send out an email to all coaches, post an announcement to the homepage of this website, and post on the IHSSA website. 

IMPORTANT BUS PARKING INFORMATION

Please plan to have your bus drivers drop off students on the north side of the school.  Busses may then park on the north side of the school in the designated bus parking or along the unload zone. If the north lot is full, please go around to the south lot and park in the bus loading zone in the south lot. 

Suburbans may park in the south parking lot of the middle school. Check "Directions and Parking" tab for more details.

SPECTATOR REMINDERS

Admission of a suggested $5 donation for people kindergarten age or older and can be donated at each entrance. There are two main entrances on the front of the school that spectators can use to enter the building. All other doors will be locked during the contest day.

Programs will also be available at each entrance for $2 a piece.

It is important for you to know your school code before you arrive at the contest site, as our office staff will NOT be allowed to share that information with any spectators.

All photography and/or video of performances– without the permission of the IHSSA STATE OFFICE– is strictly prohibited.

All cell phones and any other electronic devices should be turned off upon arrival at the contest. 

Spectators should arrive at least 30 minutes prior (if not more) to any competition. The rooms could run ahead of schedule and cannot wait for spectators. We would hate for you to miss a performance, so please be early! The contest day will not stall to wait for parents.