We are thankful to God for the opportunity to host a tournament in Coventry, Rhode Island. Five families joined us from New Jersey. We were able to carry out the Mission of the ICC Forensics Society which is designed for training and practice experiences to assist students in developing essential analytical and oratorical skills needed to become character-driven communicators and extraordinary leaders who impact culture.
We could not have run this event without the behind the scenes planning efforts of the ICC Global Leadership team lead by ICCFS International Director, Yvonne Hagood. She also provided all the team training and tournament oversight along with Dede Ruff.
Then there was the gracious help of a talented group of volunteers who came up from New Jersey. Together they put in an estimated 1000 man hours. The Northeast Area team was made up of four ICC adult members from New Jersey: Kate Wood was Tournament Director, An Normand was team leader in Ballot Administration, Dominique Normand and Theresa Wittel were the chief number crunchers in Tabulation.
Six local RI HOPE Chapter parents also joined the team bringing energy and talent to the event. I was assisted by Ann Stamp and in Evaluator Orientation, Evelina Shippee was the Evaluator coordinator, Marisabel Dailey was team leader in Ballot Return, , Daniel DeChristofaro worked with An and Katie Baker did a fabulous job with Hospitality. Previous ICC members Cheryl Connor, Jane Stach also helped with Monitoring Radio Broadcast and one grandparent, Jean Marripode assisted with Ballot Return.
The panel of young leaders shared their transformation stories from ordinary students to “extraordinary” leaders at the "Meet and Mingle" reception. As ICC Guild Inductees, who are in various stages of their leadership training they were able to engaged in a discussion lead by An Normand about the mission and vision of ICC.
The “Extraordinary” leaders also were behind the scenes making valuable contributions as they helped to set-up the rooms on Friday afternoon and re-set the facility on Saturday after the competitions were over. Andrew also assisted with technology and Daniel Normand provided all the media.
We finished the day with the ICC Showcase which was led by Olivia Dailey, Andrew Clarkin and Grace Wood (members of the ICC ASLC). They did an excellent job as Masters of Ceremony. The audience and tournament participants heard testimonies and enjoyed two amazing presentation.
We like to express our gratitude to all of our benevolent supporters of the RI HOPE Scholarship Fund: Mr. and Mrs. Martin Snyder of CIC USA, Mr. and Mrs.Jonathan Heffer of PTL Equipment, Mr. and Mrs. John Seraichyk of Browning and Associates, and Mr. Michael Sepe of Electro Standards Laboratories. The great food was generously provided by Chipotle of Warwick and Chick-Fil-A of Warwick.
In ICC, we often quote an African Proverb,
“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to far, go together.”
Our RI HOPE students will go far because of the charitable gifts. of our sponsors. Please visit the RI HOPE Scholarship Fund page if you would like to give a tax-deductible donation to help several RI HOPE students get to the International Convention in Nashville, TN in July.
Do you want to join the RI HOPE?
Contact me (Cindy.Clarkin@ICCinc.org) to find out how you can become a member of the Institute for Cultural Communicators, an expanding global community empowering next generation Christians to influence today's culture.