 Ohio’s Original Interscholastic Creative Writing Program for Middle Schools |
Coaches' Corner
Welcome, Power of the Pen Coaches! Upon registration, you received a username and password. Be sure to share those details with your co-coach and log-in to view the pull-down menu to access a variety of resources that will help you plan for and stay up to date on the season. Visit our "Judge Training & Orientation" webpage for access to our holistic evaluation guide! Here's a link to our W-9 Form on our "Manuals and Forms" page. Updates for the 2025-2026 Season, see below:
| NEW PLAGIARISM STATEMENT | REGISTRATION FLYER |
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NEW: Updated Registration Policy | 2025-2026 Season The registration fee schedule is approved annually by the Board of Directors and inclu Changes can be made to the number of teams participating per school prior to December 15th. If there is a change in the number of teams after December 15th, no credit after this date will be given for a reduction in the number of teams, as grids are in the process of being created for the tournaments at this time. For example, a school who originally registered for a team of both 7th and 8th grades, and wishes to reduce the number of teams to one (either 7th or 8th grade only), they will not be eligible to receive a credit after the December 15th deadline. |
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Judge Training Requirements: "At an Initial (District) Tournament, each school must supply one qualified judge per grade level team to accompany the contestants and judge at the event [I B 1]. The minimum qualifications for a judge at an Initial District Tournament are that they must be either a certified teacher or a parent with a college degree, and be sufficiently trained to make evaluations in the Power of the Pen tournament environment. The writing team coach is automatically qualified to judge tournaments by virtue of their role in the process and is authorized to train others to judge at the District level. Although judge orientation sessions are held before each Initial Tournament, it remains the responsibility of the writing team coach to provide preliminary training that will allow another person to participate fully and productively. Requirements include a study of the Coaches' Manual, an understanding of the concepts that underlie holistic evaluation, and some experience in reading and evaluating papers [I B 2]. After completing judge training and orientation, each judge must take and receive a passing score on the Judge Certification Quiz prior to participating in the Initial tournament. Judge certification shall be verified prior to participating, and is valid for the current tournament season [I B 3]." -- Power of the Pen Rules Manual, p. 5 For more information on judge requirements, view our "Judge Training and Orientation" page after logging in. |
COMING SOON: 2025 Kernels of Wisdom Flyer! Click the image above to download a PDF of the flyer and to access clickable links when available! |
Regional Judge Requirements: 
"Numbers required: Each school must supply, or arrange for: (a) one judge for 1-3 student contestants per grade level team, or (b) two judges for 4-6 contestants per grade level team. Example: if a school has five 7th graders and two 8th graders going to Regional, it must supply, or otherwise arrange for, three Judges - two for 7th, and one for 8th.
When two judges are required at each (or both) grade level(s), a school has the privilege of exercising a "Supplementary Judge" option to help meet a part of its overall commitment. There is, however, an absolute requirement which it cannot use the option for: this is the one-judge-per-grade-level-team threshold. The Supplementary Judge option may be exercised for the second judge only required of grade level teams number 4-6 contestants. (Example: in the preceding example - five 7th graders and two 8th graders - the school could exercise the option of replacing the second judge required of the 7th grade team with a "Supplementary Judge" - but no others).
The fee for the "Supplementary Judge" option is $50 per judge (at the Regional level) - whether or not Power of the Pen must, in fact, hire additional people to meet the gridding requirements for the tournament.
The absolute requirement provides a reasonable expectation (but not a mathematical certainty) that there will be a sufficient number of school-supplied judges to grid the event.
Qualifications: The qualifications for Regional judges are more stringent. To be qualified at the Regional level, the just must either (1) have had prior experience in judging at a Power of the Pen event; or (2) have received formal training at a certified Power of the Pen training session."
-- Power of the Pen Coaching Manual, pp. 31-32
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NEW: Judge Certification Quiz | 2025-2026 Season Beginning in the 2025-2026 tournament season, all participating judges will be required to complete their judge training and then receive a passing score on the "Judge Certification Quiz." This quiz serves to verify the integrity of our judging procedures, ensure reliability across the state and throughout all nine regions, and demonstrate validity with scoring against the Holistic Evaluation Guide's categorical data. All members of Power of the Pen, whether Coach, Judge, or Regional Director, are passionate about creative writing and the young authors in our community, the Judge Certification Quiz was created and implemented to support equitable and earnest scoring for our contestants. In order to participate as a trained and qualified judge, each individual judge must complete their training and then take (and pass) the Judge Certification Quiz. Failure to complete and pass the Judge Certification Quiz will result in the inability to judge at the tournament, thereby incurring missing judge fees for your school. All judges are expected to pass with a satisfactory score. Once logged in, visit the "Judge Training and Orientation" page for instructions on completing your training and Judge Certification Quiz. |
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Regional Directors
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Power of the Pen |
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