Dear colleagues,
BEO 2024 launches in just under two months! I’m sure you and your students are getting excited about your trip.
I haven’t received many questions from you, so I have checked previous FAQs and have added the most frequent ones here for your visibility. Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any other questions.
I will also take this opportunity to remind you of the upcoming deadlines:
- 14th February – Waivers need to be submitted here.
- 23rd February – all your student’s data, including a passport photo, needs to be submitted here.
This online form does not save, which means you need to upload the whole team at once. If you have two teams, please upload them separately.
- 1st March – your A Cappella song lyrics need to be submitted here. Remember that missing this deadline will incur in a penalty.
Our next webinar is on February 22nd, where we will discuss the Semi Final, Grand Final and the non-competing events.
I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Cassandra Gomez & the OIEG Team
GENERAL
Question: Since BEO will happen over the Easter holiday, will students have the opportunity to attend a church service on Easter Sunday?
Answer: If you have on site activities on that day, you should be able to use the chapel (if there is one in your campus). It is unlikely that there will be a priest.
If you want to attend a mass service, once you know the campus you’ll be travelling to, you can organise a visit to the closest town. This will be under your responsibility and supervision. At your campus they will be able to assist with transport, but this will have to be covered by you.
Once you receive your programme and location, you will be able to make a well-informed decision.
Question: Related to the International Night. Since there are a few more schools attending this program, and we are from the same country, can we plan something together, and unify the information? If we do it separately, we´ll talk about the same.
Answer: The International Night is not a competition event so you are free to approach it in whichever way you want. However, if you decide to work collaboratively with other schools from your country or region, please keep in mind that there is no guarantee that you will actually be placed in the same campus or the same competition group, which means that your International Night might be scheduled for different times.
Question: Do students need to use the sentences “We will now begin our presentation” and “Thank you for your attention” for every challenge or just for the Country Spotlight and Investigation?
Answer: Yes, they must use these for all events – please refer to page 14 of the written guidelines.
Question: Is it common for the students to wear the uniform for the presentation competitions or do they normally wear formal attire?
Answer: School uniform counts as a formal attire, but for those schools which do not have a school uniform, western business attire is acceptable. The written guidelines tell you which events require a formal attire and which don’t.
Question: What is the dress code for teachers? Should they also wear formal and casual attire depending on the competition suggestions?
Answer: There is no prescribed dress code for teachers.
DEBATE
Question: In the debate, do students need to “perform” their roles or just speak on behalf of each role — e.g., if they are assigned the role of the elderly, do they need to speak as if they were elders (in the first person)? Or as a group who represents the elderly (speaking in the third person)?
Answer: They can choose really; whether they decide to speak in 1st or 3rd person should not have impact on the information presented.
Question: We have doubts regarding the participation for the Debate competition and the Grand Final. The Guidelines say that for the Qualifying Round, there must be: 2 Speakers, as well as 1 to 2 Advisors.
Then the Grand Finals says 2 Speakers, as well as “same as qualifying round”
The doubts are these: do the participating students in the Grand Final need to be the same participants from the Qualifying Round; or does the number of students that would participate in the Grand Final need to be the same was the number of students that participated in the Qualifying Round?
Answer: The number needs to be the same; that is if you had one advisor in the QR you cannot have two in the GF. However, I personally would encourage the teams to keep the same participants. I believe we have never had different debaters (speaker or advisors; unless for medical emergencies) in the GF and I do think that new debaters would be someone disadvantaged if all the other teams put forward participants who have gone through the debate already once in the QR.
Question: Additionally, the Grand Final brief mentions assigning new roles, but does not mention the stance in the debate. Would the stance change, or just the role? (e.g., QR: Teens, in favour… GF: Parents, against)
Answer: This could go either way. Typically, there are six roles, three in favour and three against. The team may be assigned a new role but the same stance as in QR, but they could also be assigned a role which is of a different stance as well.
Once again, if the BEO Debate format puzzles you and if you have more questions like the one above, please do make time and watch the recording of our third BEO Webinar, which you can find here.
CREATIVE EVENTS
Question: Drama festival: If we want to take background music and/or sound effects, could we do it? If yes, what should be the format for it — flashdrive, CD, etc.?
Answer: It should be on a USB stick.
Question: For the drama competition, the student in charge of the sound effects and music (has no active role in the play) is counted as a participant in the competition?
Answer: No, normally the student who is in charge of forwarding the slides (in presentations) or sound effects (in drama) does not count. However, the number of participants for the drama is not limited so it should not really matter.
Question: You said we would be able to get some simple props for the drama when we get there. Are we supposed to turn in a list beforehand or do we ask our assigned staff member at arrival?
Answer: You will be invited by the AEM (Academic Event Manager) to submit your requests shortly after arrival to the centre.
Question: During the Drama competition are we going to have control over the lighting? We have the intention of turning off the lights at some point during the play.
Answer: This is something I cannot guarantee. Some of the hosting schools have very expensive theatre set up and it is entirely possible that they will not allow us to use all the tech equipment. I would certainly say they any kind of dimming and spotlighting will not be possible. However, if it just a matter of making the whole room dark(er) for a couple of seconds, it might be possible. If that is the case, it will certainly need to be operated by one of OIEG /BEO staff, so you need to think ahead of time if one of your students would be indicating to the member of staff what to do and when. Please keep in mind that you cannot assist with this.
MYSTERY EVENTS
Question: Usually, are students allowed to use the internet for research during Mystery and Improvisation Challenges?
Answer: No, usually they are not allowed to use the internet for either of these events.
Question: During the Mystery and Improvisation challenges, is there a clock in the room? Are students allowed to wear watches to manage the time?
Answer: There is typically a clock in room, student can wear normal watches (not smart watches) and there will also be a member of staff monitoring and informing them of remining time.
Question: How can the students ‘prepare’ for the BEO Mystery Challenge and BEO Improvisation Challenge. As the Guidelines state that everything will be announced on the day of the event, is there any way the students can prepare ahead of time in regard to skills? Or should they just be prepared to be surprised with the challenges?
Answer: The best way you can prepare students is to work on effective communication and teamwork; they need to know how to divide workload, how to help each other, how to work under pressure. It also helps that team know each other’s strengths and weaknesses – how’s good at math, who’s creative, who’s good at language so that they can divide workload effectively.
Question: For the improvisation challenge, will material (arts & crafts) be given/provided to students for them to create props?
Answer: If this is a part of the brief, then yes.
Question: I watched videos of mystery challenges from previous years and if I’m not mistaken students need to deliver a short presentation explaining what they “built” to the judges. If this is true, I would like to know if all participants in this challenge need to speak in this presentation or if some students can only work on the building part.
Answer: There is typically a short presentation but the content of it tends to differ based on the brief, which also states how many students can participate in the presentation.