AACS Competition Annual Update September 2015
New Manual—A new AACS Competition Manual (2015 edition) will govern National Competition
2016–2020. There were many changes made. Be sure to purchase the manual for your school and
carefully review it. State competitions often operate under different rules. Competitors must follow
current Nationals rules and use the current AACS judging forms at Nationals.
Bible
Old Testament Testing—Joshua, Judges
New Testament Testing—Romans, 1 Corinthians
Bible Quizzing—Hebrews, 1 & 2 Peter
All Bible quiz teams must arrive by 9:00 p.m. on Monday, April 11. Registration for Bible quiz
teams will be conducted from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, April 11. The Bible quiz team
coaches will have a meeting at 9:30 p.m. on Monday, April 11.
Bible Memory—Soul Winning (See AACS National Competition Manual, 2015 Edition, pp. 71–72.)
Music
One change has been made to the number of required originals of the music: Contestants in individual
or solo competition categories (vocal or instrumental) will need one original of each selection of music
performed for judges to reference. If the contestant or accompanist will be using music for any
performance, those will also need to be originals. Photocopies are not permitted.
As stated in the manual, contestants in group competition categories will need three originals of each
selection of music performed for judges to reference. If the contestant or accompanist will be using
music for any performance, those will also need to be originals. Photocopies are not permitted.
Debate
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance.
Spelling
Clarification of Spelling Procedure Rule 2m: “When the students are reduced to two, the elimination
procedure changes, but not before the completion of the current round.”
The intent of the rule change is to insure that the remaining competitors have correctly spelled the
same number of words as eliminated competitors before changing the procedure, so the current round
must be completed before the procedure changes. If, at the completion of a round, only one
competitor remains who has not misspelled a word, that competitor is the first place winner and the
two-person elimination procedure outlined in rule m does not occur. The second- and third-place
winners are awarded in the order that they were eliminated from the contest. If, at the completion of a
round, only two competitors remain, the elimination procedure outlined in rule m is employed to finish
the contest and third place is awarded to the last competitor eliminated in the previous round. If, at the
conclusion of a round, all competitors have been eliminated, the contest must resume as things were at
the beginning of that round—all competitors who were still in the contest at the beginning of that round
are restored and a new round begins with those competitors spelling in the original order.
The AACS office will randomly assign the order in which spellers are to compete and give that order to
the spelling master.
Science Fair
The new AACS Competition Manual (2015 edition) includes the new Science Fair Manual. Be sure to
purchase your Competition Manual. The Science Fair Manual was significantly changed with this
edition. Previous editions no longer apply.
You Need to Know
Refer to the AACS Website and the National Competition Manual (2015 edition) for information
regarding purchasing competition Bible, instruments available at the host site, Extemporaneous
Speaking references, Spelling study lists, and other important information.
You Need to Know September 2015
New Manual—A new AACS Competition Manual (2015 edition) will govern National Competition
2016–2020. There were many changes made. Be sure to purchase the manual for your school and
carefully review it. State competitions often operate under different rules. Competitors must follow
current Nationals rules and use the current AACS judging forms at Nationals.
Bible
For Bible Memory and Bible Quizzing the official Bible can be purchased from www.aacs.org ISBN 978-156320-654-2.
Instruments Provided Categories: Percussion Solo, Large Instrumental Ensemble, and Orchestra/Band
The instruments that will be provided only for percussion solo, orchestra/band, or large instrumental
ensemble are the following: 5 Ludwig timpani in standard sizes including 32”, 29”, 26”, 23”, and 20”; a
36”concert bass drum; large gong; chimes; vibraphone; rosewood xylophone and marimba (4.3 octave,
5.0 octave marimba is available by request); and glockenspiel. BJU will not provide mallets or sticks.
Please do not use the very hard clear plastic mallets made of Lexan. Lexan is a polycarbonate resin that
will damage rosewood.
Extemporaneous Speaking
Topics will be drawn from January, February, and March issues of the following news magazines: World
Magazine and Time Magazine. Student research and speech references are not limited to the magazines
from which topics will be drawn.
Spelling Study Lists
The Spell It! information is available online, www.myspellit.com, and is free to all schools. All the words
listed are linked to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations. The emphasis of
the Spell It! is to teach students to learn how to spell and to minimize the memorization of words.
AACS High School Competition
Study lists may be accessed at www.myspellit.com. Words are
organized into sections by language of origin. Words are further organized into “Study Words” and
“Challenge Words.” Spelling Bee Booklets are no longer available; however, each word list may be
printed for study purposes by selecting the “Print” tab. Spelling bee words will not necessarily come
from these lists but will come from the same categories. Instruct high school students to study all
sections.
Junior High and Elementary Competitions.
Contact your state association for Junior High and Elementary guidelines!
Junior high competitions are governed by the various state organizations. AACS suggests instructing
junior high students to study the following sections (accessed at www.myspellit.com): Arabic, Old
English, Greek, Words You Need to Know, French, German, Italian.
Elementary competitions are governed by the various state organizations. AACS has a study list available
on the AACS website (www.aacs.org).
Competition Annual Update
Refer to the AACS Website, the Competition Annual Update, and the National Competition Manual
(2015 edition) for information regarding this year’s topics for Bible categories, the Debate topic, rules
updates or clarifications, and other important information.