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3. VRC High School - Student Advocacy Award

Student Advocacy: Leveling the Playing Field in Robotics for Everyone
The Student Advocacy Award recognizes and celebrates a High School robotics team that has demonstrated how they were able to make an impact at the local, state, or national level regarding the adaptation or expansion of legislative bills that provide robotics opportunities for all students. Entries for this challenge will demonstrate how the students advanced their legislative goals and will include the documentation to support their efforts.     

Create a digital portfolio to show us the work that your team has accomplished in the last year in your advocacy effects at the local, state and/or national level.

 

Prizes

1st: The winning chapter will receive one (1) paid World Championship Invitation for one team representing the school or organization.  

Eligibility

Teams must be a part of a registered VRC High School team based in the United States for the current season.

• This page is for VRC High School entries only - if you are any other program or grade level, please refer to the Online Challenge Page to find the correct page for your program and grade level.

• Only one entry per team is permitted. However, each team in a multi-team school or club program may submit one entry. For example, teams 123A and 123B could each submit an entry, but team 123A could not submit two entries. Entries must vary in content and presentation to be considered separate entries. 

• Work submitted in previous or different current Online Challenges may not be repurposed for this submission.

Requirements

Rules of the Challenge Think of this as a digital portfolio. Your submission should be created using Book Creator or Google Sites, and include a combination of imagery (news articles about the team, screen captures, etc) and supporting text. It should showcase the work that your team has accomplished in the last year.  These will be saved as pdf files in order to be uploaded to the site.   Include examples of the work that your school /organization has accomplished in the last year in your advocacy efforts at the local, state or national level.  Work completed in the summer of 2022 falls within this timeline.  Either at the beginning or end of your submission there needs to be a credits section, which will include: Title of the submission Name of the entrant or entrants Team number Name of the school or organization City/State/Country The submission components need to include:  a description of the problem that is being addressed and what you accomplished.   A statement that verifies the successful completion of the project by a school administrator or legislator. Evidence of the actions that your group took to prepare materials and meet with legislators.  The submission must include combinations of text and images used to share the story of the impact of robotics, how important it is for the community and how to make it more accessible for all students.  Only one submission per currently registered, active school or organization.  Your final submission must be in PDF format (maximum file size: 20MB). You may create your submission using the platform of your choice. If you create your entry using programs like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, there is an easy way to save in the correct format: just click “File” and then “Save As Adobe PDF.”  Depending on the version you are using, this may also simply appear as an option you can select from the dropdown in the “Save As” function. You must upload your PDF entry directly to the Online Challenges site during the submission process. Work submitted in previous or different current Online Challenges may not be repurposed for this submission. READ CAREFULLY: UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS Instructions to upload your PDF: Click the green Enter Challenge button on the right side of the screen. Fill out the submission form and type your text in the Full Description box according to the Requirements for this challenge. Click Save. Click the blue Files/Images button in the upper right of the screen.  (maximum file size: 20MB) Drag/Drop your PDF file into the Upload a File box. Be sure to edit the Display Name and file information according to the Requirements for this challenge. Save your edits and click Update on the entry screen.

Judging Information

Judges will select 5 finalists, and will take community-voting results into account in making the final selections. These finalists will be reviewed by an additional panel of pre-selected professionals, and those scores will be combined with the initial scores to determine the winner of this Online Challenge.

The judges will evaluate and score each entry as follows:

Up to 5 points for student team member(s) creating and producing the portfolio*  {REQUIRED}

Up to 5 points for the inclusion of the information in the credit section at either the beginning or ending of the submission (title, name of entrants, team number and name/location of school or organization).  {REQUIRED}

Up to 25 points for a well-structured, complete story with quality supporting imagery. Does the after-action report or presentation clearly tell a clear story of the students’ efforts regarding their advocacy project?

15 points for a statement from a school administrator or legislator verifying the advocacy work that the students completed for the project. No points awarded if the statement is not provided.   

Up to 25 points for the content provided in the after-action report or presentation that supports the student’s advocacy efforts.   

Up to 10 points for a digital portfolio that has several different formats of documentation.  Judging will be looking for variety as well as quality of submission. 

Up to 15 points for the after-action report or presentation that presents a strong overall effort on behalf of the students involved.

*Students should be the sole creators of this submission. It is acceptable for adults to assist with downloading any necessary resources or submitting the story where students may need permission. 

Current time:
Thu, Oct 10, 2024 8:20 PM CDT

Opens:

Mon, Dec 5, 2022 12:00 AM CST

Closes:

Fri, Jan 13, 2023 2:00 PM CST

All Entries
View Finalists
View Winners