How Can You Help?

ACT-SO is a NAACP program that receives state-wide and local support from the generosity of people like you who value our collective (volunteer) work. You may donate either as an individual or as an affiliate with schools, community organizations, churches, foundations, and/or private corporations. ACT-SO will use your donations exclusively to underwrite youth programs including paying the expenses needed to take participating students to the national competition. All of our staffers are strictly volunteers which ensures that every last dollar goes toward hard costs. Monetary donors to ACT-SO may belong to organizations who can recruit individuals in the ACT-SO process as coaches, judges, and other volunteers. Sponsors may provide much-needed growth opportunities which include internships, field trips, and even jobs. If you are interested in becoming sponsor by making a tax deductible donation for the Westchester Region NAACP ACT-SO Coalition program, please contact us.

Perhaps the most important component of ACT-SO is a year-long ENRICHMENT PROGRAM which will:

1. prepare participating students for the Regional Competition that occurs annually during the month of March or April;

2. prepare students for the National Finals in July;

3. expose students to cultural experiences that will raise their horizons and enrich their lives.

A volunteer coach or mentor may be assigned one student or one group of students whom they will:

1. assist in preparing for a particular competitive category

2. assist with the personal elements of auditioning such as decorum, dress, stage presence and projection – or –

3. expose to cultural experiences outside of their home and school environments.

NAACP ACT-SO CRITERIA FOR SELECTING JUDGES

1. Each judge must have at least a baccalaureate degree in the category he or she is judging (an advanced degree is preferred – especially in science). If not degreed, the individual should be employed as a professional in the category field. Junior College or College Professors often make good judges. They are familiar with the level of work a high school student should produce. Professional Architects, Engineers, Journalists, Actors, Painters, Gallery Owners, Newspaper Publishers, etc. are good candidates for judges.

2. Each category must have a minimum of three (3) qualified judges.

3. Judges must not have any contact with or be any relation to students who may be competing in the category they are judging. (This eliminates participants’ high school teachers and local ACT-SO coaches/mentors from serving as judges. The integrity of the competition is compromised when high school, middle and elementary school teachers serve as judges for students they may have taught or mentored.)

4. Judges must be available for the entire judging period/process.

5. Judges who have judged a local competition may judge on the National level, but not in the same category as a student they may have already judged at a local competition.

Judge Enrollment Form.

This position requires an individual who is assertive, organized, and possesses leadership, customer service, communication and problem solving skills. The duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Managing and overseeing activities in respective competition category.
• Hosting participants, judges, and observers.
• Maintaining crowd control.
• Communicating judging procedures to audience.
• Communicating procedures and special instructions to contestants.
• Preparing contestants music for competition.
• Keeping and reporting contestant time to judges.
• Assuring that judges’ needs are met (i.e. copies, pencils, water, etc.)
• Collecting judge score sheets during breaks and at the end of the competition.
• Compiling, sort and prepare student evaluations for distribution.
• Performing such other duties that may be requested by the ACT-SO Chairperson.

If you are interested in becoming a Competition Room Facilitator, please contact us.

The door monitor must be assertive, organized, and possess good customer service and communication skills. The duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Managing traffic in and out of competition site.
• Communicating plan for managing traffic, in and out of the room, to the audience.
• Maintaining crowd and noise control.
• Posting contestant numbers during competition.
• Assisting Room Facilitators in meeting the judges needs (i.e. water, copies, pencils, etc.)
• Assisting Room facilitators in collecting judges’ scores sheets and preparing student evaluations for distribution.
• Performing such other related duties that may be requested by the Room Facilitator or ACT-SO Chairperson.

If you are interested in becoming a Competition Door Monitor, please contact us.

• By becoming a recruiter of students and volunteers;
• By suggesting others who might be able to assist us;
• By presenting an enrichment workshop for student participants;
• By providing additional prizes for competition winners;
• By providing job and internship opportunities to current students and alumni;
• By providing in-kind support, i.e. access to technical facilities such as science and photography labs, computers, group admission to events and performances, project supplies, etc.