Exemplar Finalists Announced
ANNOUNCING THE EXEMPLAR FINALIST TEAMS!
If you’ve been following the National Exemplars Program, you know that ceremonialists from all over the country recently submitted their best work on video in an attempt to reach the rarified standards demanded of Order of the Arrow Exemplar teams.
It’s been a long and challenging journey since the videos first arrived two months ago, with over 25 experienced evaluators providing multiple reviews. This team generated over 75 independent reviews on the 22 submissions, involving an estimated 200+ hours of adult volunteer output — truly a spectacular testimonial to the importance of inductions in our Order.
Over 100 pages of feedback were generated to assist the teams in improving their ceremonies. Many of these teams will likely go on to earn Honor status at NOAC, and all of them will be better positioned to better serve their candidates, and perhaps even to be Exemplar teams in the future.
From this rigorous process we also identified a very small number of teams who have been invited to demonstrate their ceremonies at NOAC 2018, potentially earning Exemplar medals for their consistent excellence and service.
For the 2018 National Order of the Arrow Conference, the Finalist teams are:
- Illinek Lodge / Abraham Lincoln Council
- Uh-Tō-Yeh-Hut-Tee Lodge / Greater Tampa Bay Area Council
- O-Shot-Caw Lodge / South Florida Council
- Tutelo Lodge / Blue Ridge Mountains Council
These Finalist teams will receive their evaluations “live” in front of the audience, providing service as teachers and role models for any interested Arrowmen who wish to attend. Their demonstrations will also be recorded for future training, to help enhance the quality of ceremonies across the nation. These finalist teams, with their hard work, genuine talent, and commitment to sharing the gift of the Admonition, truly represent the values of our Order and are worthy of watching (and of emulation) by all Arrowmen.
As with Honor Teams, Exemplar status is only granted at NOAC itself. It is not earned through the video submission, and the teams must maintain and even improve their standard to earn the Exemplar rating in their actual NOAC evaluation. Therefore, those recognized as National Exemplars will have truly risen to the challenge. They will have demonstrated their commitment to:
- Consistency: Performing repeatedly at high levels against standards.
- Excellence: No principal is evaluated as less than “Excellent” at the national level, and at least one rated as “Exemplary.”
- Service: Serving as a national role model in addition to serving their own candidates.
This is a rare opportunity to see some of the best teams in the nation exemplify the values of our Order through their ceremony. Make sure to schedule yourself for seeing one of the live Finalist ceremony evaluations on Tuesday and/or Wednesday afternoon; and don’t miss attending your Region Gathering to see if any teams from your Region are awarded Exemplar status!
More information, including an overview of the entire process, the evaluation rubric, and guidelines for video submissions, are on the ICE Portal by following the link here.