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1. What is the contest question?
- 82% of US college students say they would have worked harder if they had been more challenged in high school.
- 81% of US high school students want more opportunities for real world learning in their schools.
- 67% of new jobs in Delaware will require some form of post high school education.
- 36% of Delaware high school graduates are prepared to be successful in college.
Through Your Vision, Your Voice, students will creatively express themselves by answering the question below in a self-made video presentation or written essay:
What should Delaware schools look like if they are going to prepare all students to be ready for college, work, and life in a global society?
Your Vision, Your Voice begins on January 2, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. EST and ends at 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008.
2. What is Your Vision Your Voice?
As part of its commitment to education in Delaware, the Rodel Foundation has created the Your Vision Your Voice essay and visual presentation contest to get students to express their thoughts about Delaware education to the public in an inspirational, thought-provoking manner. The Rodel Foundation wants to hear what Delaware students’ vision is for the future of their public schools.
3. Does Your Vision, Your Voice: Youth Summit have a Myspace Page?
Yes Your Vision, Your Voice: Youth Summit does have a Myspace page. Check it out at www.myspace.com/yourvisionyourvoice and add us as a friend
4. How do i answer this question?
To answer the contest question, it is best to do research on the question. On the Resource page, there are numerous articles, videos and similar contests that can help answer What should Delaware schools look like if they are going to prepare all students to be ready for college, work, and life in a global society?
For Your Vision, Your Voice, complaints are not what is being asked. Solutions and examples should be the focus for the visual presentation or essay. It may also be helpful to go onto Save Me a Spot In College, which is very similar to Your Vision, Your Voice, to help answer the question.
5. Do I qualify to enter?
In order to be a qualified entrant in Your Vision, Your School, you must be a Delaware public school student in grades 8th thru 12th at the time of entry. If you are under the age of 18, you’re required to submit an Official Form. Please mail or fax all Official Forms to Your Vision, Your Voice, 100 W 10th St., Ste. 704, Wilmington, DE 19801, Fax: 302-571-1538
6. I can’t decide if I should write an essay or create a visual presentation. What should I do?
We encourage students to respond to the question in the manner in which they are most comfortable, and in a way that best expresses their personality and interests. We hope you will ask your teachers, guidance counselors, and community members for suggestions and assistance. Just remember: the work that you submit must be your own!
7. How many entries can I submit?
Students can only submit one entry for the contest. We permit up to three students to work together on a video; essay submissions must be written and submitted by individual students.
8. What is an Official Form?
An Official Form is a document that the entrants and the parents of the entrants must sign. For the visual presentation category, all participants (actors, directors, etc.) must have an Official Form signed by a parent and the participant. The submission will be declined if the Official Form is not received by 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008.
All Official Forms must be mailed or faxed to our Vision, Your Voice, 100 W 10th St., Ste. 704, Wilmington, DE 19801. Fax: 302-571-1538. The Official Form will not be accepted by e-mail.
9. How do I document the actors in my visual presentation?
All actors in a visual presentation must have an Official Form signed by their parent/guardian. In order for Your Vision, Your Voice to know who each actor is, please document the actors name by adding credits at the end of the video or by writing a list of actors names down and submitting it with the Director's Official Form.
10. How do I submit my entry?
All video entries must be submitted on Your Vision, Your Voice youtube.com account. For uploading instructions, please go to “How Do I Upload a video?”. Essay entries can be submitted by emailing contest@yourvisionyourvoice.org. Within 5 business days, the essay and visual presentation contestant will receive a confirmation email or postcard to confirm that the entry was received. If the contestant does not receive this confirmation, please email Your Vision, Your Voice at contest@yourvisionyourvoice.org.
Essays must be uploaded in MS Word format. Videos must be uploaded in .AVI, .MOV, .WMV, and .MPG file formats.
All participants (actors, directors, etc.) must have an Official Form signed by a parent and the participant. The submission will be declined if the Official Form is not received by 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008.
All Official Forms must be mailed or faxed to to Your Vision, Your Voice, 100 W. 10th St., Ste. 704, Wilmington, De 19801. Fax: 302-571-1538. The Official Form will not be accepted by e-mail.
11. How do I submit my visual presentation on Youtube.com?
All visual presentation contestants must submit their videos, flash video, Power Point, Windows Media, etc. on Youtube.com. An account must be created on youtube.com in order to do this. Parental permission is required before creating an account. After receiving parental permission, follow the youtube.com video uploading directions.
All participants (actors, directors, ect.) must have an Official Form signed by a parent and the participant. The submission will be declined if the Official Form is not received by 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008.
All Official Forms must be mailed or faxed to Your Vision, Your Voice, 100 W. 10th St., Ste. 704, Wilmington, De 19801. Fax: 302-571-1538. The Official Form will not be accepted by e-mail.
12. When will the entry be viewable on Yourvisionyourvoice.org?
After the deadline, 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008, all entries will be posted onto yourvisionyourvoice.com.
Each entry will be reviewed by an administrator and the contestant will receive an email or postcard confirming or declining the submission.
13. When is the deadline?
Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 P.M. EST on April 15, 2008. Entrants are responsible for submitting all necessary information. All Official Forms must be mailed or faxed to
Your Vision, Your Voice, 100 W 10th St., Ste. 704, Wilmington, DE 19801. Fax: 302-571-1538. The Official Form will not be accepted if e-mailed.
We will only accept entries that are submitted online .
14. How will essays be judged?
Essays will be judged based on the seven criteria outlined below. Keep in mind that the strongest essays will be inspiring and thought-provoking for the reader.
- Focus: Examines how well your essay responds to the question presented.
- Organization: Looks at the structure of your essay and the strength of your position. Does the essay have an organized structure? A strong essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
- Conclusions: Examines how well conclusions and recommendations are expressed.
- Originality: Looks for creativity in writing. What does the writer use develop ideas creatively? The essay should be bold, innovative and have new ideas included.
- Voice: Considers how well your writing engages the reader. The essay should be compelling and/or engaging and keep the reader engaged throughout the entire text.
- Style and Mechanics: Examines how well the essay is written in terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as word choice and sentence construction. The essay must be thought-provoking/engaging.
15. How will visual presentation be judged?
- Focus: Examines how well your video responds to the question presented.
- Organization: Looks at the structure of your statements and the strength of your position. The video should be bold, innovative and have new ideas included.
- Originality: Looks for creativity in the making of the video.
- Voice: Considers how well your message engages the viewer. The video should be compelling and/or engaging and keep the viewer engaged throughout the entire video.
- Style and Mechanics: Examines the quality of the video (sound/lighting). The video message must be thought-provoking/engaging.
16. How and when will winners be selected?
On Wednesday, April 16, peer-to-peer voting will take place online for a week. A panel of independent judges will then review each video and essay and assign it a score based on standard criteria. Winners will be announced at Your Vision, Your Voice: Youth Summit on Sunday, April 26, 2008. Winners’ names, essays, and videos will also be posted on this web site shortly thereafter.
17. Who will see the winning entries?
The winning entries in both categories will be presented at Your Vision, Your Voice: Youth Summit and may receive publicity from the media.
18. What are the prizes?
A grand prize winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up will be selected in the essay contest. Another grand prize winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up will be chosen in the visual presentation contest.
Scholarship amounts in both categories are as follows:
Grand prize $1,500**
First runners-up: $1,000**
Third runners-up: $750**
**All prize amounts will be split accordingly among the winners by Your Vision, Your Voice
Winners will also receive gift bags containing items including gift cards, educational materials, books, and other items deemed appropriate by the contest judges.
19. Do I have to pay anything to enter?
No, it’s absolutely free to enter.
20. Do I get anything free?
Each contestant will receive a free t-shirt.
21. Whom do I contact with questions?
Please email us at contest@yourvisionyourvoice.org or 302-504-5232 with any questions.
