State Fraternal Director Frank Horak June 2020 SPJST YOUTH P.O. Box 100 - Temple, Texas 76503 | 800.727.7578 | 254.534.0681

State and District Youth Showcase to Replace YAD for 2020 I would not have imagined in a million years that 2020 would turn out like this. I have spent sleepless nights thinking about, What If’s? What if we can’t go to camp? What if we can’t have YAD? Then I thought about our ancestors who migrated to this country under adverse conditions — they faced many challenges, obstacles and even a pandemic in 1919. Somehow they survived and made their lives better. We can do the same! In my update letter on May 8 I had to let you know about canceling all State and District Youth Achievement Days. We are diligently working on an online program. I don’t want to call it YAD due to this is something different then we know. I like SPJST Youth Showcase. After having the virtual decorated rock contest with 155 entries from across the state — I see this would be a good way to keep our youth active and involved with SPJST. Please know we are still working on the timeline on how this process will work. Youth leaders I will be sending emails explaining the details. I will also send out a punchbowl card informing you of the important emails. I this packet you will find a document explaining the rules for the categories and contest. Flag Day Essay Contest Youth Leaders please encourage your youth to enter the Flag Day Essay! All SPJST youth between the ages of five and high school senior are encouraged to enter this year’s Flag Day Contest. This contest will promote patriotism and creative literacy. Please have your members ages eight and under submit the coloring contest. Several prizes will be awarded in the Flag Day Contest. All of the winners will be announced in the Vestnik leading up to Flag Day on Sunday, June 14. The deadline for all entries is May 31.

Please make reference to the Flag Day Essay Contest guidelines enclosed with this mailing. This year’s theme is “The American Flag - Freedom, Courage, and Honor”. This would be a good time to talk about the right way to display the U.S. flag and flag etiquette. You may also consider having a member of the Boy Scouts or the American Legion come in as a guest speaker.

1 State Fraternal Director Frank Horak June 2020

SPJST Summer Camps 2020 Please know the Camp Kubena overnight summer camp program for 2020 has been canceled. This decision effects our SPJST LIT and Junior Camps. We believe it is the safest choice for the health and wellbeing of our groups, our staff, and our camp. For more information please see the letter that I am including with this packet.

Please know that Camp Kubena Executive Director Rob Clift, Camp Kubena Assistant Director Brandon Johnson, and myself are planning to take Camp Kubena on the road to each district. As soon as we have all the plans in place we will contact the District Youth Counselors about setting up a time and place to all meet. Of course we will still need to follow social distancing while all together. Youth Tee-shirt Please support our youth program by purchasing camp tee-shirts! Macy Narro created an awesome tee-shirt. There will not be an order deadline for this tee-shirt. You can order camp tee-shirts through the Home Office Fraternal Department.

July Vestnik Project The July Vestnik Project will be about, Athletic Superhero Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Babe was born in Port Arthur, Texas and America’s First Female Golf Celebrity.

2 State Fraternal Director Frank Horak June 2020

Decorated Rock Contest Age Category Overall Winners

First Place K to 8 First Place 9 to 11

Evan Pflughaupt, District Five Luke McCarthy, District Two Lodge 88, Houston Lodge 187, Round Rock

First Place 12 to 14 First Place 15 to Senior

Megan Ohnheiser, District Seven Addee Williams, District Four Lodge 185, New Braunfels Lodge 215, South Plains

3 State Fraternal Director Frank Horak June 2020

Decorated Rock Contest People’s Choice Winners

First Place K to 8 First Place 9 to 11

Steel McCoy, District Seven Aubrey Marshall, District Two Lodge 185, New Braunfels Lodge 20, Granger

First Place 12 to 14 First Place 15 to Senior

James Teague, Jr., District Two Caitlyn Petett, District Seven Lodge 20, Granger Lodge 107, Floresville

4 SPJST June Vestnik Project - Emil Zatopek “The Locomotive or Bouncing Czech” This project earns a maximum 1 point in the SPJST Youth Clubs Merit Points System. Mail completed project no later than July 15, 2020 to: SPJST Youth Program c/o SPJST Home Office • P.O. Box 100 • Temple, Texas 76503 Name______Age______Lodge______Emil Zatopek: Dominated long distance running from 1948 until 1954

One of the greatest runners of the 20th Century, Emil Zátopek achieved legendary status when he won the 5,000, the 10,000 and the marathon at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

"The Locomotive" or the "Bouncing Czech" as he came to be known, dominated long distance running from 1948 until 1954 when he won a remarkable 38 consecutive 10,000 meter races, including 11 in 1949 alone. He set 18 world records over various distances including every record from 5K to 30K, and won four Olympic gold medals and one sil- Now complete the word search with the words found below the ver. He was the first to run a 10K under 29 minutes and the first to run puzzle. Good Luck! 20K in one hour.

Emil Zátopek was born in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia on September 19, 1922, he was the sixth child of a modest family. At age 16 he began working at the Bata shoe factory in Ziln. In 1940 Bata sponsored a 1,500m race, and he was persuaded to enter even though he had no train- ing. Out of the field of 100 Emil finished second and he began to take a serious interest in the sport.

A mere four years later, in 1944 Emil broke the Czech records for 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 meters. He was selected for the Czech national team for the 1946 European Championships. He finished fifth in the 5K, breaking his own Czech record.

Emil is credited with revolutionalizing running and training. He devel- oped intense interval workouts that have become the standard today. In 1998 Emil was awarded the Order of the White Lion, a national honor presented to him by Czech President Vaclav Havel. Emil died November 22, 2000 at age 78 after being admitted to Prague's Military Hospital fol- lowing a stroke on October 30th. Thousands attended the funeral of the Czech Republic's greatest athlete. Source Material: http://www.runningpast.com/emil_zatopek.htm The Camp Kubena overnight summer camp program for 2020 has been canceled. This does effect SPJST LIT and Junior Camps. The decision was made on Wednesday, May 20 by the Camp Kubena Advisory Committee comprised of District One Director Donnie Victorick, District Three Director John Engelke, State Fraternal Director Frank Horak, President Brian Vanicek, and Camp Kubena Executive Director Rob Clift. This was a difficult decision especially in light of Governor Abbott’s announcement on May 18 that would permit summer camps to open on June 1 with restrictions.

“The decision was based on input from health experts, program leaders, and our years of experience managing successful camps,” says Rob. “After a careful review of the American Camp Associations’ Field Guide for Camps, the CDC guidelines, and the guidelines from the State of Texas; to implement the restrictions placed on our groups and staff for safe camp operations during the COVID-19 outbreak would be impractical at this time.”

Under these restrictions, social distancing would continue. Also, guidelines mandate that there would be daily health screenings, the use of masks as well as additional personal protective equipment. Additionally, cabin populations would be reduced and all activities would be segregated by cabin groups which would not be permitted to interact with each other during their stay at Camp Kubena. Activities including cultural group dancing, hay rides, opening campfires, and closing programs would be canceled or dramatically limited.

From the operational perspective, opening for the summer would have placed significant and additional burdens on camp staff. This would have included quarantining camp staff on site for 7 to 10 days before the camp season begins. It would have also necessitated that camp staff would be required to remain onsite except for supervised visits to town while wearing masks. “The added stress placed on our camp staff and group leaders would have been enormous,” says Rob.

“The hardest part of our decision has been to think about the impact on our children. It is devastating that our overnight summer camp program will not happen this summer, but we believe it is the safest choice for the health and wellbeing of our groups, our staff, and our camp. That gives us great comfort we are making the correct decision,” says Rob.

Economic considerations also factored into the decision to close Camp Kubena for the summer. As of this writing, all but one of the many groups that were signed up to use Camp Kubena this summer had canceled their reservations. “With 75 percent of the groups canceling, we are going to refocus our resources and efforts that will allow us to support the SPJST Youth Program and membership,” says Rob, indicating that he would be working with State Fraternal Director Frank Horak in hosting activities within the districts this summer.

While the summer camp program is off for 2020, it’s important to know that Camp Kubena isn’t closed. “We will remain a resource to the community and SPJST members that exemplifies our values of benevolence, humanity, and brotherhood,” says Rob. “The plans are to utilize camp throughout the summer months as a day-camp facility with limited activities.” This will include working with individual groups – including families, lodges and youth clubs, and other organizations that would like to come out and enjoy the property. For information, please contact Rob directly at 979-249-5674 or by email at [email protected]. Presenting the 2020 SPJST Youth Showcase!

What is SPJST Youth Showcase? The SPJST Youth Showcase was born of the idea that healthy competition inspires young people to do their best! Competition is wonderful when it provides feedback to young people about their performance and improvement, when winning is not the sole objective, and when young people get to grow from the experience.

For years, that idea presented itself in the SPJST in the form of seven District Youth Achievement Day contests held in early summer and culminating with State Youth Achievement Day at the end of summer break. Thanks to the social distancing mandated by the coronavirus, that changed things -- at least for now! The SPJST Youth Showcase aims to fill that void and will consist of competition in five categories:

Constructed Items Photography Pictorial Arts Individual Talent

Royalty

Who Can Enter? The SPJST Youth Showcase is open to all SPJST young people who have a current SPJST Life Insurance certificate. Certificates must be issued no later than June 1, 2020. Any young person who has completed kindergarten to an incoming high school senior is eligible to participate. The 2020 SPJST Youth Showcase is open to youth who have not previously been part of the SPJST youth program!

Contestants will compete for First, Second and Third place recognition in four age categories:

Completed Kindergarten to 8 Years Ages 9 to 11 Ages 12 to 14 Ages 15 to High School Senior

SPJST Youth Showcase contestants must be single and cannot be a parent or pregnant. In the first round of the SPJST Youth Showcase, contestants will compete for district recognition. First place district winners will advance to the competition to be presented in August. All district and state results will be announced at www.spjst.org, on SPJST’s social media pages, and in the Vestnik.

How to Enter A Virtual Youth Showcase contestant must register electronically on the spjst.org website. All contestants may submit one entry per category. Youth will also do the same for talent and royalty competitions.

Parents and youth will be responsible for completing electronic entry cards and submitting digital images of their project (videos of individual talent and royalty speeches). The entry process of the electronic entry cards and uploads of the project must be submitted at the same time. No entries will be accepted by email or text. Electronic registration closes on July 1 at 11:59 p.m. If a mistake is made with an upload and corrected before the cut off date, the contestant will be able to correct the problem before the entry is judged.

General Youth Showcase Rules Upload one high quality digital image of the entry submitted for Constructed Items, Pictorial Arts, and Photography. The image should be of the entry against a solid white or colored background.

Tie Breaker Ties will be broken for first place in all categories and for second place in royalty. If scores are tied after judging, the winner will be determined by reviewing the contestant’s scores. The contestant with the greatest number of first place scores from the judges will be the first place winner.

Youth Showcase Craft Contests Contestants may enter one entry in each category: Constructed Items Pictorial Arts Photography

General Craft Rules and Judging Criteria Items must be made by the contestant. Items previously entered in SPJST youth competitions may not be entered.

All craft entries and digital images must be submitted electronically. Contestant will submit two photos with each entry: The first photo that is submitted will be of the contestant with their project. The second photo should be of the entry against a solid white or colored background.

Entries featuring and/or promoting the use of any alcohol, tobacco, or drug product will not be accepted.

Constructed Items The entry being submitted for judging must be made of clay or molded dough.

Be creative and have fun.

Judging Criteria Level of Difficulty 40 points Creativity and Design 40 points Neatness and Appearance 20 points

Pictorial Arts The entry being submitted for judging must be a freehand painting or drawing on paper, canvas, or poster board using paint, ink, pencil, crayon, chalk, or markers.

Judging Criteria Level of Difficulty 40 points Creativity and Design 40 points Neatness and Appearance 20 points

Photography The entry must illustrate the category, “Flower(s)” The image must be in color. Camera effects and digital modifications are not permitted.

Judging Criteria and description Composition 35 points: The arrangement of the forms within the photo should be pleasing to the eye. How well did the photographer use the available space within his format? If the rules of thirds are broken, did the result justify that decision?

Exposure 25 points: The amount of light that enters the camera hitting the camera sensor is called exposure. If not enough light enters the camera and reaches the digital sensor, the image will be too dark or underexposed. If too much light enters the camera and reaches the digital sensor, the image will be too bright or overexposed.

Impact 25 points: Is the sense one gets upon viewing an image for the first time. This is best explained by the “I wish I'd taken that picture” reaction. Does the image make the viewer feel happy, sad, angry, proud or another intense emotion.

Creativity 15 points: Is the digital image original, fresh, and external expression of the imagination taken by the photographer? Did the photographer convey an idea, message or thought.

Individual Talent Contest Rules and Judging Criteria Contestants are invited to perform the talent of their choice — dance, dramatic presentation, gymnastics, instrumental, vocal, pantomime and lip-sync — are all permitted.

Performance Guidelines For Individual Talent, the performance must be limited to three minutes or less. The time limit does not include the introduction.

Contestants will not announce their name, lodge or hometown in their introduction or at any time during their digitally recorded presentation.

No outside assistance with talent acts is permitted.

Performance, costumes, music, and props must be in good taste and age appropriate. If video is determined inappropriate, it will not be judged.

Judging Criteria Technique (Level of Skill) 40 points Rendition (Creativity) 25 points Stage Presence (Poise/Personality) 20 points Extra Merit 15 points

Royalty Competition The SPJST State King and SPJST State Queen are considered to be the “youth ambassadors” for the Society. As such, they represent the SPJST at several public events during their course of their reign. More than anything, perhaps, the SPJST Royalty Competition is about presentation and poise and the ability to communicate effectively.

Compelling, confident public speaking is a crucial skill that is often not developed in a young person’s formative years; however, it can strongly impact how the young person views themself and how they develop and succeed in school. The poise and increased command of public speaking that are gained from competing in this category at the district and state levels will not only help them in school, but also empower them in any situation they encounter in life.

Contestants may enter by completing the online registration form for “Royalty” at spjst.org. Speeches and autobiographies must be uploaded with the royalty entry. Royalty winners will be the 2020 SPJST Youth Ambassadors for the society.

King and Queen Competition King and queen contestants must be entering high school freshmen to high school seniors.

Competition Guidelines The District competition will be the speech presentation. Royalty speech content shall be presented in a positive manner (Pre-recorded).

The State competition includes two interview questions and the speech presentation. Royalty speech content shall be presented in a positive manner.

All contestants within a district will compete for the district titles. District winners will compete for the state titles. State royalty competition will take place on a web-based platform, such as GoToMeeting or Zoom.

Speech Topic The topic for the 2020 royalty speeches is: “SPJST - Superheroes Unite!”

The royalty speech must be in the contestant’s own words and not exceed three minutes. It will incorporate SPJST and make up 50 percent of the speech.

The speech time limit is three minutes. A total of three points (one point by each of the three judges) will be deducted if a contestant exceeds the time limit. Time limit begins with the contestant’s first word.

If any technical difficulties should arise during the state royalty competition, the contestant will have the opportunity to restart the speech.

District Royalty Judging Criteria (Pre-Recorded) Speech Content 40 points (Includes adhering to topic) Speech Delivery 50 points Stage Presence (Neatness, Poise, Appearance) 10 points

State Royalty Judging Criteria (Live) Interview No. 1 15 points Interview No. 2 15 points Speech Content 30 points (Includes adhering to topic) Speech Delivery 30 points Stage Presence (Neatness, Poise, Appearance) 10 points

Contestant Guidelines Contestants must have participated in a previous YAD in order to compete in the Royalty competition.

The attire for the district and state royalty contestants is professional (formal or business attire).

Past SPJST State Kings and past SPJST State Queens are not eligible to enter.

No SPJST State Queen candidate shall be pregnant or have given birth to a child. In the event that the SPJST State Queen becomes pregnant during her reign, it becomes necessary to forfeit her title and all prizes.

No SPJST State King candidate shall have caused a female to become pregnant. In the event that the SPJST State King causes a female to become pregnant during his reign, it becomes necessary to forfeit his title and all prizes.

Youth who are being treated for the use of drugs or alcohol and/or convicted of an offense greater than a Class C misdemeanor (Speeding Ticket) prior to competition are ineligible to compete. Youth who are being treated for the use of drugs or alcohol and/or convicted of an offense greater than a Class C misdemeanor (Speeding Ticket) during their reign must forfeit their titles and all prizes.

Contestants will have no facial hair and no visible body piercings and/or tattoos during competition.

Dukes and Duchesses Duke and duchess candidates must have completed kindergarten and may be up to 12 years of age. These young people will not compete during the online competition. They are designated by the king and queen contestants.

Awards State King: $1,500 SPJST Scholarship*, trophy, and sash State Queen: $1,500 SPJST Scholarship*, tiara, trophy, and sash State Duke: Trophy, and sash State Duchess: Small tiara, trophy, and sash

First and second runners-up will also receive awards.

*The State King and State Queen will receive scholarship upon successful completion of reign and State Royalty requirements.