PROCEDURE FOR JUDGING WITH AN APPRENTICE

The following are suggestions for judging with an apprentice. We hope you will follow these suggestions as closely as possible so that all new judges will be trained and evaluated in a similar manner. Under no circumstances will an apprentice or anyone in the apprentice’s family exhibit in the Show in which he/she is apprenticing.

1.  You may be contacted by the Panel Director asking you to accept an apprentice on one of your judging dates. The panel hopes you will accept as many apprentices as you are asked to during the Show season since this is the only way future judges can acquire the experience and training necessary for them to become good judges.

2. Be sure that the Show Manager approves of your having an apprentice and ask for his/her patient. Let him/her know that you will do your best to complete the judging within the allotted time.

3. After you have been introduced to your audience and before you actually begin judging, introduce your apprentice. Make sure it is understood that you will be doing the judging and that the apprentice will only be going through the procedure for evaluation.

4. Make sure the apprentice understands the mechanics of judging. Cover what the Judge is to fill in on the Show Tag, the placement of birds in the bench as they are being judged, and which birds are to be returned for further consideration.

5.  After you have initiated each Show Tag, ask your apprentice to inspect and rank the birds on the bench. Then judge the birds yourself and ask the apprentice's comments on the birds you have judged differently. Explain to the apprentice why you are changing his placement, after assuring him that you both will differ somewhat in placement. Briefly explain to your apprentice what you will say to the Gallery regarding your choices and make sure the apprentice understands that there is generally a way to balance criticism with praise.

6. Watch the time! You may not be able to follow the procedure in number five (5) throughout the judging. If you find that time is running short, discuss only the points you feel will be most beneficial to train the apprentice.

7.  When judging is over, the apprentice must fill out a complete Show Report Form. Answer any questions the apprentice may have about the form, but do not fill out the apprentice Show Report or allow the apprentice to copy yours. The apprentice should get the information for the report the same way you do for your official Show Report. The apprentice Show Report must be sent to the Panel Director within two (2) weeks of the show date. After the judging has been completed, you must send a written report to the Panel Director with your comments on the apprentice.