Weekly Update - June 15, 2009

June 15, 2009

VHSL Weekly Update, June 15, 2009

“Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

                                                          – Lou Holtz

ATTENTION: Principals, athletic/activities directors, superintendents, guidance counselors, scholastic bowl coaches, debate coaches, theater coaches, publications advisers

Weekly Update, distributed at the beginning of each week, contains current League news and information on website updates (www.vhsl.org), with links that will provide you with immediate access.  Please forward this message to each of the coaches or activity advisers to whom this information pertains.

VHSL office summer hours

The VHSL office will be observing summer hours beginning this Friday.  The office will be closed at noon on Fridays through August 14.

Out-of-State Divisions

At this time, please disregard any out-of-state divisions on the Master Football Schedule associated with VHSL schools.  Some out-of-state schools are already in the system and they come up automatically when a VHSL school schedules them.  VHSL will advise everyone as soon as the out-of-state information has been updated. 

The Master Football Schedule has been updated to include any corrections or additions submitted as of 6/12/09.

VHSL program inserts sent to schools

In an effort to build greater awareness of the Virginia High School League and VHSL programs, we e-mailed each school inserts to use in your game programs and other school publications. 

To fulfill this awareness initiative as part of our overall strategic plan, we’re asking for your cooperation.  We sent two camera ready inserts:

• VHSL insert.
• VHSL Foundation insert.

In addition, you may use your own photo.  If you choose to use your own photo, please e-mail a vertical jpg to Mike McCall (mmccall@vhsl.org).  Your photo will be inserted and a PDF will be sent back to you for use in your game program and/or other school publications.

If you do use the insert(s), please send a copy of the program and/or publication to the VHSL office

Team travel reimbursement

For schools participating in state championship events that qualify for team travel reimbursement, please remember that the school must submit a properly completed Request For State Championship Team Travel Reimbursement form in order to receive their reimbursement.  The form is on pages B18 and B19 in the Appendix section of VHSL’s Financial Policies and Procedures manual.  This publication is available on-line.  After completing the form you may attach it to an email to Denise Marshall (dmarshall@vhsl.org) or Jim Garman (jgarman@vhsl.org), fax it (fax number 434-977-5943), or mail it to either Denise or Jim at the VHSL office located at 1642 State Farm Blvd., Charlottesville, VA 22911.  With the accounting year ending for schools and the VHSL on June 30, time is of the essence in getting the requests in and processed before the year closes.   

District and region officers’ directory request

If you have not sent in your listing for district and/or region officers for the 2009-10 school year, please email the list to Lora Bickley (lbickley@vhsl.org) no later than June 15.

District/region year-end audits

VHSL’s CPA firm has provided us a list of districts and regions to be audited this year.  Jenn Lyster with Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates will be contacting each district and region treasurer to schedule their respective audit.  Jenn’s email address at Robinson, Farmer, Cox is jlyster@rfca.com  and her telephone number is (434) 973-8314 should you want to contact her.

The districts and regions that will be audited this year are:

Districts:  Western Valley, Blue Ridge, Massanutten, Seminole, Southern Valley, Piedmont, River Ridge, Southwest, Hohoheegee, Mountain Empire, Pioneer, Three Rivers, Black Diamond, Clinch Mountain, Cumberland and Lonesome Pine

Regions: Region III, Region IV, Region C and Region D

District/region treasurers and bookkeepers

With the end of VHSL’s fiscal year on June 30, please remember that each district and region treasurer or bookkeeper needs to email a copy of QuickBooks standard year-end Profit and Loss Statement and QuickBooks standard Balance Sheet for June 30 for their district/region to Denise Marshall (dmarshall@vhsl.org) or Jim Garman (jgarman@vhsl.org) by Friday, July 17, 2009.  Please remember to follow-up the emailed reports by mailing a hard copy of the reports with the treasurer’s financial certification to Denise or Jim at the VHSL office at 1642 State Farm Blvd, Charlottesville, VA 22911 within three (3) days after emailing the reports.  They can be reached at (434) 977-8475 should you have any questions.

Region treasurers are reminded to submit region event reports for spring sports to the VHSL office by June 30 if possible.

Opportunity for VHSL schools to earn up to $10,000

VHSL corporate partner Allstate Insurance helps to underwrite many of the costs of state-level programs. They have also initiated a new fundraiser which can directly benefit your school.  For every auto insurance quote written between now and December 1, 2009, Allstate Insurance will donate $5 (up to $10,000) to your school. See the attachment for step-by-step instructions, and begin securing your quotes now.  Allstate Cash For Quotes»

Regional journalism workshops to visit four cities in September

VHSL continues to offer you the most amazing educational opportunities in partnership with Jostens.  The top names in scholastic journalism will be coming to a city near you this fall to teach a variety of courses in newspaper, magazine and yearbook publishing.  Join Bobby Hawthorne, Betsy Rau, John Cutsinger, Mark Murray, Gary Lundgren and others at this exciting event in Chesapeake (9/21 at Chesapeake Conference Center), Richmond (9/22 at Greater Richmond Convention Center), Roanoke (9/23 at Holiday Inn Tanglewood) and Springfield (9/24 at Waterford at Springfield).  Save the dates, and stay tuned for more information! 

2009 Championship Journalism Workshop

Save the date!  Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1 for the 2009 Championship Journalism Workshop!  Plan to join your peers across the commonwealth for the state’s premiere scholastic journalism training event!  Many speakers have committed to appearing and presenting exciting new sessions, and you too are invited to submit an Instructor’s Proposal Form (http://www.vhsl.org/files/pubseval-speaker-proposal.pdf) and help students and advisers across the state with advertising, building a curriculum, caption writing, using fonts and color, illustrating, photography or some other aspect of publications in which you excel.  Innovative, interactive sessions with fun, catchy titles will ensure maximum attendance to your session.  Proposals may be sent to Lisa Giles (lgiles@vhsl.org) and will be accepted through the late summer; however, those received by August 1 will be given priority consideration.  Stay tuned for more information!

Submit materials to new NFHS online publication, The Forensic Educator

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Speech, Debate, and Theater Association's Speech Committee is requesting materials for its new online publication, The Forensic Educator, which is designed for teachers and coaches of speech to share their insights and express themselves on important issues related to competitive speech, debate and theatre. 

In addition to traditional scholarly articles, The Forensic Educator is looking for other materials that can be placed on the site.  These include:

*     Lesson plans

*     Testimonials (for use in justifying programs)

*     Professional development materials

*     Judge training materials

*     Sample ballots, procedures, certification exams

*     Rule sets for unique events

*     PowerPoint presentations from training events

The goal is to make The Forensic Educator site not only a beneficial scholarly resource, but a one-stop-shop for valuable training tools, lesson plans, and professional development material for new coaches and teachers in speech, debate and theater.  Combined with resources already available through the National Forensic League, the Education Theater Association, the National Debate Coaches Association, and others, we hope to establish a viable ring of web sites that can assist speech, debate, and theater educations, while still maintaining the unique character of The Forensic Educator.

If you have materials that you think may be usable, please forward them to Lisa Giles, VHSL Director of Activities.

This is your chance to share and to be heard!

Publications advisers reminded to submit publications and individual Writing/Photo/Design Contest entries for evaluation DUE TODAY

VHSL annually evaluates publications of member schools in an effort to improve the quality of scholastic journalism.  Newspaper, magazine and yearbook advisers are reminded to submit their publications for evaluation no later than June 15.  A publication will be officially entered upon receipt of entry form, publication and fee.  Entry forms may be retrieved from the RESOURCES section of the VHSL website (http://www.vhsl.org/activities) under your respective publication type.  Individual work may be submitted separately into the VHSL Writing/Photo/Design Contest using the entry form at http://www.vhsl.org/files/pubseval-statewrite-entry.pdf.  Please direct any questions on publications evaluations or the Writing/Photo/Design Contest to Sharon Condoulis at (scondoulis@vhsl.org).     

Adults and student athletes encouraged to take survey

Your help is needed!  As you may know the VHSL has for years been a strong supporter of the Pursuing Victory with Honor sportsmanship program.  Would you please click on the link below and answer a simple on-line survey about ethics and sportsmanship in high school sports.

The on-line survey will take you less than 10 minutes to complete.  Your answers will be kept private and confidential, please answer the questions honestly.   

As you will see when you click on the web link, there are two surveys – one for Adults and one for Student-Athletes.  Any help and assistance you can give in forwarding the link and encouraging others to complete the survey would be greatly appreciated. 

The Josephson Institute and the CharacterCounts program has worked very hard for many years with the VHSL to help all of us in our efforts to promote character, ethics and teach life lessons through our sports programs.  Please take a few minutes of your busy day, complete the survey and forward on this email to others – especially student athletes -- and ask them to do the same.   The results will help all of us in the days and years to come.

Athletes Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=4dD4Kcq34aM3UylUTdL7SQ_3d_3d

Coaches, Administrators and Parents Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tufJfLstTVJ_2fu0WBN1CpUw_3d_3d

Thank you!

League seeks Scholastic Bowl commissioner and tournament director

The Virginia High School League is seeking letters of interest for Scholastic Bowl Commissioner and/or Tournament Director.  Please share the attached information with people you think may be interested in serving the Scholastic Bowl community in either or both capacities.  Questions may be directed to Lisa Giles.

Scholastic Bowl Commissioner Vacancy»

New athletic director workshop scheduled

The VIAAA will conduct a New Athletic Directors Workshop at the Virginia High School League office on July 29 and 30.  This workshop, directed by Kevin Adams and staffed by multiple individuals with years of experience, has drawn much praise for its depth and value to past attendees.  To obtain more information about this opportunity visit the VIAAA website www.viaaa.org or contact Kevin Adams, CAA at John Marshall High School kadams@richmond.k12.va.us.

VIAAA sponsoring summer institute

The Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (VIAAA) is sponsoring a professional development summer leadership institute.  A total of 16 classes will be offered over a two day period, July 15 and July 16 in Charlottesville.  The course topics address many current issues facing high school and middle school administrators.   The courses offered are also part of the requirements for athletic administrators to become certified at the RAA, CAA, or CMAA levels.  Don't miss this meaningful staff development opportunity. 

For complete details and course descriptions, follow this link:  http://www.viaaa.org/index.cfm?action=pages&id=196

Record Book updates needed

The VHSL Book of Records, 14th Edition is being updated to include 2008-09 champions and independent submissions.  To access the record book, go to http://www.vhsl.org/files/pub-vhsl-recordbook-jan08.pdf .  The record book is updated twice a year, at the conclusion of the fall season in December and at the conclusion of the spring season in June.  Schools may submit applications for recognition with corresponding documentation at any time.  This application may be found on the last two pages of the record book.  Any questions may be directed to Mike McCall at 434-977-8475.

Team and individual photos from VHSL championship teams requested

VHSL member schools that had a state champion team or individual for the 2008-09 school year are requested to submit a photo of your champion(s) for inclusion in our end-of-the-year publication, The Leaguer.  Electronic photos are preferable and should be emailed to Mike McCall at mmccall@vhsl.org for inclusion in the 2008-09 edition of The Leaguer as soon as possible.   Please be sure to submit a quality photo of at least 300 pixels per inch.

School logos still needed

All schools please send your school/athletic logo (at least 300p resolution in a jpg format) to the VHSL office to be used in future VHSL publications and the new VHSL website.  Logos should be emailed to Mike McCall at the League Office.  Thanks.