I took two days vacation this week on Thursday-Friday as I had been ‘voluntold’ to assist with the Power of the Pen state championships at Otterbein University (the event host location) down in Columbus.
My spouse has been working with them to edit their Book of Winners all year. Our kids came with us, too.
On Thursday, we hosted a lawn games event and played burnball with about 25 kids as they arrived to the tournament. Later that evening, we chaperoned the DJ dance event. And yes, some line-dancing ensued… Hey Macarena!
On Friday morning I brought some coffee to my buddy Randy at Westerville Bus Garage (to chat, learn, and support) his puzzle, and relished in the number of Tim Horton’s available at all times in the CBUS area. And now for the hard task ahead…
The real meat of the volunteering was serving in the sorting room. Going into this, I had no idea what to expect, and had chatted with the organizer on Thursday night (naturally) about workflow, automating a few things, and making it easier through technology.
But, having not seen any of the parts, it’s easy to get lured into a promising future.
If you’ve never experienced the Power of the Pen, it’s a lot of writing. Local events, regional, and state champs. At Otterbein, we had 501 writers in grades 7-8, and most wrote at least 3 essays (under time pressure).
Each essay was graded by two judges, a score was compiled, and (in our room) the carbon copy of the essay along with their score sheet was sorted into 172 envelopes to go back to their respective schools at the end of the day.
The organization and staff required was at a whole different scale than I had imagined!
It gets even better (as in more complicated!). Coaches and teachers serve as judges, and student writers cannot be in the same room as their coaches, and their essays can’t be judged by someone from their home school. Build that matrix!
I had chatted with Barb on Thursday about their efforts over COVID, when they wrote remote over a two-week period, shipped essays all over the place using email and sheets and tried Google Classroom.
As I found out, the event is almost too complex without the army of volunteers.
Our sorting room was the last step on the journey. There was a tabulation room, a computer score room, several other sorting areas, throngs of student helpers (runners, n=75) shuttling essays from room to room to judges, and back again.
It was amazing to watch, and be part of.
Jae and I were assigned in a time slot from 12-4, but soon realized we’d be the ones to lead the effort in the sorting room. We looked at each other, nodded in agreement, and settled in the for the long haul.
Over the hours we spent huddled over papers and codes (each writer is known only as a code, like AG71), we managed the efforts of at least 35+ additional sorting volunteers in a cramped lecture room in Towers Hall. All the essays got sorted.
Most of the others were teachers, coaches, or folks (like us) passionate about writing, reading, and making it happen. No one complained. No one groaned at yet another stack of 500 essays coming through the door… No one got paid.
So why volunteer?
Why not?
Now I’ve learned a new process, seen the power of people (and the Pen!), and experienced something great.
I will treasure this memory for a long time, and we’re already committed to next year (obviously). And if you have a young writer in 7th or 8th grade, now’s the time to find a team…