Have you asked TJ to change its exam day instead or - easier for all of us except for the people proctoring the TJ exams! - to offer a makeup exam day for those with VADCFLL conflicts? That would be way better for those of us who plan around more than one activity this time of year.
My girls' teams haven't made it to the state competition yet but they'd love to (last year, our older daughter's team was an alternate). But if you change the competition to a week later and their teams did go on next year, either my girls would have to miss their annual skating performances or miss the LEGO competition :-< They practice for months for their skating show/program (one does the rink's annual group show; the other does solos and takes private lessons to put her routine together). As LEGO coaches and parents, that would put us (and them) in a really awkward spot - go to their skating shows (and who would bring the team to the competition?), go to the LEGO competition (and pull them out of their performances, which wouldn't show much commitment at the rink), or send them to their skating shows with the grandparents while we take the other kids out of town (AWKWARD!). I realize there isn't as much overlap with ice skaters as with TJ preppers, but I wanted to point this out as an example that the TJ folks aren't the only ones out there with other obligations and plans who would be impacted. At least an exam can be rescheduled; a skating show and a lot of other events can't be.
Thanks for keeping more than just the TJ preppers in mind.
On Dec 5, 2011, at 2:02 PM, Nagesh Chintada wrote:
Desh
You bring up a great question about TJ exams. Your team's situation regarding TJ Exam is unfortunately not unique. There is a high correlation between teams that compete in FLL and team members that want to go to TJ, both strong in S.T.E.M.
My team members who will be in the 8th grade next year are already turned off at the prospect of TJ exam coinciding with FLL Championships, and they are not sure if they want to come back to FLL next year as a team due to the extra pressure this scheduling conflict creates.This is a dilemma many teams face and is not unique to one team, since I know some other kids who had similar issues.
I would like to request VADCFLL to consider moving the competition a week after the TJ Exams are done. I am sure this will help more DivII teams show up and compete more fully.