Easy Steps To Participate and Official Rules

Easy Steps to Participate
1. Assemble A Team
2. Register Your Team
3. Prepare Your Team
4. Compete In Level 1

Participation Steps Detail:
How to Assemble an Academic Team
How to Prepare an Academic Team
How to Register an Academic Team
Official Rules to Participate
Equipment Requirements

How to Assemble an Academic Team
Each JROTC unit will be allowed one team consisting of four cadets**, including two juniors and two sophomores. Freshmen may “play up” in place of a sophomore. Seniors may not be included on the team. Two alternates (one sophomore and one junior) may be named in case a team member must drop out before the end of the competition. The alternates may participate in the online testing.

Instructors may assess each potential team member by grades, performance on the practice round, ability to work with a team and/or enthusiasm for the competition. The instructor has the final decision on the members of the team and may use the OPTIONAL Practice Round (Oct. 12 – 23, 2009) developed by the Foundation as a method of choosing team members. The Practice Round will consist of 25 questions similar to those questions in Level I and II. All cadets in the unit may take the Practice Round at an internet-accessible computer either in the classroom, at home, in the library or other location. The cadets should logon to www.cofcontests.com, answer the questions and print out their scores to turn into the instructor. It is up to each instructor to review the scores and determine members of the team.

** Please note that there is a change in the number of cadets per team this year. Each team should consist of two sophomores and two juniors. Two alternates are allowed to participate in the online portion of the competition.

How to Prepare an Academic Team
One of the main goals of the JROTC Academic Challenge is to prepare students for state exit/graduation exams as well as college entrance exams, such as the SAT and ACT. However, many JROTC instructors are understandably interested in measuring how well their cadets are learning the JROTC curriculum. Therefore, we will have a mix of JROTC curriculum as well as English, Math and Science in each level of the competition. We will also include a few questions about current events – focusing on national and international news, particularly international relations, politics, business and science. All of the current events questions will be taken from major media available on television, the internet and in daily newspapers.

Level I – The Challenge will include 25% JROTC questions, 65% SAT/ACT-type questions and 10% current events questions.

Level II – Zero Hour Threat will include 15% JROTC questions, 75% SAT/ACT-type questions and 10% current events questions.

The JROTC curriculum questions will focus primarily on leadership preparation, wellness and fitness, group/team dynamics and communication skills.

We encourage all cadets, whether they are on the academic team or not, to prepare for the ACT, SAT and ASVAB tests by reviewing English, Science and Math coursework. There are several resources available, free-of-charge, to all students.

Websites to review include:
www.cofcontests.com  – practice questions developed by the Foundation
www.cofcontests.com  – free online SAT and ACT test prep guides developed by the COFoundation
www.number2.com – a free test prep website
www.march2success.com – a free test prep website
www.foxnews.com/index.html - FOX News
www.cnn.com/studentnews/ - CNN Student News
www.npr.org/ - National Public Radio
www.reuters.com/ - Reuters
www.usatoday.com/ - USA Today Newspaper

Study Guides to review:
ACT Study Guide
SAT Study Guide

How to Register an Academic Team
Registration begins on Monday, November 2, 2009. Teams are not required to pre-register in order to compete in Level I – The Challenge; however, it will take approximately 15 minutes to answer a few required questions before the actual test begins. So, we suggest that each instructor register his or her team before the team is ready to participate in the first round. Registration will be open until the last day of Level I competition (Nov. 18), so an instructor can still register a team up until the last day of Level I.

All teams will be competing against similar teams. We will categorize by demographics including socio-economic and geographic factors. Please be prepared to answer the following questions:

• High School Name, Address, Phone Number
• Instructor Name, Email Address, Phone Number
• Cadet Names, Grade, Gender, GPA, Years in JROTC
• High School Demographics – Number of students, Number in Free Lunch Program, Athletic Category (ex. 3A, 8A), type of school (suburban, rural, private, public, etc.)

Official Rules of the Competition

1. The designated contact should be a JROTC instructor with access to email. Most correspondence with teams is through email; therefore, it is essential that instructors check their email and respond as soon as possible. Foundation staff is also available by phone for questions or concerns. (1-888-JROTC-USA or 770.632.0399 or edonahue@collegeoptions.net)
2. Each JROTC unit will be allowed one team consisting of four cadets. There shall be two juniors and two sophomores on the team. Two alternates (one sophomore and one junior may be named and may participate in the online portion of the competition.
3. The Challenge and Zero Hour Threat are internet-based competitions. The team must have high speed (DSL, cable, t1, etc.) internet access (not via a dial-up connection).
4. The Challenge and Zero Hour Threat each require approximately one hour to complete. Once a team has logged in, there is no ability to stop and start over. The competition must be completed in one sitting.
5. No one is allowed in the room during the competition except for the 4 members of the team, 2 alternates and one instructor who will act as proctor for the test.
6. No outside sources (dictionary, thesaurus, text book, newspaper, etc.) are allowed. Calculators, pens/pencils and scratch paper are permitted.
7. No communication about the competition with other JROTC teams or schools is allowed. Teams are not permitted to discuss the questions or design of the competition with anyone outside of the team members and instructors.
8. All scores will be sent to the Foundation’s server automatically. If a team believes there has been an error in scoring, the team must contact the Foundation via phone or email with 12 hours of the completion of their participation (upon finishing the game). A written explanation of the problem will be required and should be sent via email (edonahue@collegeoptions.net).
9. If there is an electrical outage or other technical difficulty during the competition, the team must contact the Foundation via phone or email within 12 hours of the difficulty. A written explanation of the problem will be required and should be sent via email (edonahue@collegeoptions.net).
10. The JROTC Academic Challenge is relying on the adherence by all teams to the JROTC Code of Honor/Core Values. The Foundation expects that all team members and instructors will abide by all rules.
11. Finally, we believe the No. 1 rule in this competition is…. Have Fun! We hope you enjoy this challenge.

Equipment Requirements
To properly participate in the JROTC Academic Bowl, you need the following minimum computer requirements:

• PC or Macintosh with a display set to 1024x768 or higher resolution (you can use a projector or large monitor)
• The latest version of an Internet Browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Firefox, Safari, etc.)
• The Macromedia Flash plug-in installed in your web browser (version 10 is best)
  • You will need the Flash plug-in in your web browser, to install it, click the following link and follow the directions Get Flash!
• One member of your team to operate the computer (pressing keys/using the mouse)
• Speakers for listening to the instructions within the JROTC Academic Bowl program
• Your Internet browser window needs to be "maximized" to fill the full screen
• Due to the file size of the Academic Challenge - the program might take about a minute to load - ignore the blank screen
• Only click ONCE on any of the buttons. With some web browsers, if you click more than once, more than one program will open, and this will cause errors.
• Your password can only be used once, so no "test runs" to ensure connectivity or check you password.
• Use of paper and pencil is allowed during the test.
• Do not click on an answer after the time runs out, you will only end up answering the next question (usually incorrectly).