SchoolYourself.org Scholarship Competition

Teaching Talent Awards of up to $250

What is the SchoolYourself.org Scholarship Competition? Aside from the chance to win money, the SchoolYourself.org Scholarship Competition provides an opportunity to perform a patriotic mission -- a community service, whereby students may share their knowledge with other students. The aim is to supplement the American high school curriculum with clear explanations, lectures, and lessons that are readily accessible. Among the people who will benefit most are homebound students, hospitalized students, home-schooled students, students who attend under-funded schools, students eager to study subjects that their high schools don't offer, students who want to rehear topics as reinforcement to their in-school studies, teachers who want to see and hear explanations before teaching complex concepts, and schools and districts that can't afford to send tutors to the homes of homebound students.

The Contest, Round 1 We invite high school and college students to enter their own original 5-45-minute online lessons, lectures, and explanations (maximum 20 MB) into our online teaching competition. Subjects should relate to topics covered in American high schools, including, but not limited to high-school-level and AP-level mathematics, high-school-level and AP-level sciences, high-school-level and AP-level history, English literature, English composition, Economics, Grammar, Government, and Latin. IB topics are welcome too. We are seeking clear, original, focused entries that show mastery of topic, creative presentation, enthusiasm for the topic, and (in lectures on math and science topics) that include a short explanation of how the topic is relevant to the overall subject. Good taste, appropriateness of subject, clear visuals, and proper language usage will be important factors in selecting winners, since SchoolYourself.org is reaching out to a national and international audience. Humor is welcome, as along as it's in good taste.

Rules Each submission must meet ALL of the following minimum criteria in order to be considered. Participants may only submit their own work -- this applies to both the visual presentation and the audio soundtrack. Copied or plagiarized material is not permitted. Any quoted material must be clearly attributed. This applies mostly to English literature and history subjects, but all presentations that quote others' prose, poetry, mathematical proofs, or statements, must give credit to the person or people being quoted. While anyone may contribute lessons and explanations to SchoolYourself.org, only high school and college students may participate in this competition. Home-schooled and homebound students planning to attend college may participate. All parties featured in the lesson must agree to participate and sign (or initial) the entry form. 20 MB is the maximum for video files. All lessons must be submitted online. All lessons must be accompanied by an official entry form, so we know where to contact winners and in case the SchoolYourself.org administration has questions. Lessons may be submitted by individuals or groups of up to 3 members.

Disclaimer SchoolYourself.org reserves the right to display and make available on its website any submitted lessons, regardless of whether the entry is judged to be a prize-winner. While most lessons and presentations will be made available for viewing at the SchoolYourself.org website, SchoolYourself.org administrators reserve the right to choose which submissions it deems appropriate for a high school audience, and to withhold any that are not within the guidelines, spirit, or approach of the website. While all lessons will be reviewed for content, SchoolYourself.org is not responsible for informing submitters as to why individual lessons that were not selected for online inclusion were not posted.

Format All video files must be less than 20 MB. Aside from that stipulation, participants may choose from a wide selection of styles and approaches. Diversity of style and creativity are encouraged. Options include, but are not limited to, PowerPoint presentations with voice-over narration, original animation, and live-action. Each lesson should start by clearly displaying and stating the title of the lesson. The "teacher" of the lesson should also clearly state his or her name. For lesson titles, we encourage participants to use direct titles that indicate clearly what the lesson teaches, rather than trying for "cutesy," confusing, or misleading titles to lure viewers.

Deadline We expect to be offering multiple identical rounds of competition, each with several winners. The deadline for submission for Round 1 is August 1, 2009 (so all submissions must be received by 11:59pm on August 1, 2009). All entries should be submitted online to principal@schoolyourself.org.

Prizes Explanation Prize: For the best explanation of a difficult high school concept or proof $150 Lecture: For the best 15-25-minute talk on an academic subject $200 Lesson: For the best 25-plus-minute inclusive lesson on a topic covered in high school classes $250 Mnemonic Devices: For the best (and most tasteful) ways and drills to remember difficult concepts $50 National winners will be announced in July, and will be awarded commendations for national service. In addition to naming Prize Winners, we will select Honorable Mention and Runner Up entries judged to be among the best submitted for public viewing on the SchoolYourself.org website. Prize Winners, Honorable Mention Winners, and Runners Up will be notified and awarded official designations that can be listed on their resumes and college/grad school applications.

Entry Form To participate, all entrants must fill out the entry form, which should accompany the entry as an additional attachment. Each lesson or entry requires a new entry form. If more than one student but no more than three students participated in the creation of a lesson, then one student in the group should be named the designated group leader to fill out the form. All three participants, however, must be listed on the form in order for the entry to be considered.