Hey everyone!

This week’s post is going to be a bit different. I’m still working on what (I hope will be) a fantastic blog article on appeals, but it’s not ready just yet. In the interim, I wanted to use this space to plug a project I’m really excited about: the Training Grounds!

The Training Grounds is a peer-driven study group for aspiring L3 judges, focused on the Qualities of Regional Judges. Basically, the aim of the project is to get a bunch of awesome L2s together, add some fantastic mentors, shake them together, and see what comes out. Okay, there’s more to it than that…

If you want to learn more, go check out the brand spankin’ new Training Grounds blog! If you’re interested in joining us as a participant, you can apply on JudgeApps.

Huge thanks to my co-conspirator Bryan Spellman, the numerous other judges who provided input on the Training Ground’s educational model, and all the judges who’ve volunteered as mentors, for making this possible.

The Training Grounds is really the second iteration of this kind of project; the first was the L3 Study Group on Facebook, which I was part of back in 2013-2014. The group definitely helped me as I pushed to become L3, which was a major motivator for my push to revive the project. However, the original group also had some problems, including relatively low engagement from group members. My hope is that the Training Grounds’ new, multi-tiered format will help avoid some of these problems. I’m excited to join Bryan in re-inventing this kind of educational experience for the Judge Program!

If you have any input or suggestions, or are interested in volunteering for the Training Grounds, drop me a line!

Coda: Writing this post helped me realize I don’t talk much about judge projects on Bearz Repeating. Would you like to hear more about the judge projects I’m part of? Let me know! I’m always eager to tailor my posts to your interests.