John B. Alexander High School Library Seeking Community’s Votes as Part of $200,000 National Education Contest
Written by admin, Jan 20, 2017, Comments Off
Courtesy Veronica Cantu,
Schools Receiving Most People’s Choice Votes Will Win $8,000 Eac
(Laredo, Texas)-John B. Alexander High School (AHS) Library has entered a $200,000 national education contest hoping for a chance at one of the 13 prizes that will be awarded to recognize the most unique and inventive K-12 programs. In addition to completing an online application for the annual Follett Challenge, the AHS Library also submitted a short video to promote its program that teaches students the 21st-century skills they need to be prepared for life.
Ten of the prizes, valued at $8,000 each, to be given away are from the People’s Choice category and will solely be based on how many votes applicants have received for their videos from the public. Video voting begins January 23, 2017. AHS Library’s video is now posted on the Follett Challenge website (www.follettchallenge.com) at the following link: https://follettchallenge.com/videos/817
After registering, users can cast one vote per day through January 27, 2017, when voting ends. Not only are the public’s votes significant in the video-voting portion of the contest, but they also will play a role in the overall rubric as 20 percent of each school’s final score is based on the number of votes generated for their video.
AHS is only one of 15 schools that are participating in this contest. The other schools are from some of the following school districts: Garland ISD, Northside ISD, Frisco ISD, Keller ISD, Pasadena ISD, Lewisville ISD, Socorro ISD, Galena Park ISD, El Paso ISD, and Round Rock ISD.
“We hope our community will support us by viewing our video and voting for our submission,” said AHS Principal Ernesto Sandoval, Jr. “Participating in the Follett Challenge recognizes our educators for the great job they are doing with the resources they have and, should we win, reward them with resources to do more, It also will give our educators here a platform to share their innovation with other schools across the country and throughout the world.”
A total prize value of $200,000 in products and services will be awarded by Follett, a global education solutions leader. The overall winner will earn a $60,000 prize, plus a celebration at the school, while each of the other two Semi-finalists will earn $30,000 prizes. The 10 People’s Choice awards are worth $8,000 each in products and services and will be announced February 28, 2017, along with the Semi-finalists. This year’s Follett Challenge will honor Semi-finalist winners in three categories: elementary, middle and high school.
The judges will be seeking applications that illustrate critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration between students and among teachers and other members of the school staff. Last year’s Grand Prize winner was Ben Eielson Jr/Sr High in Fairbanks, AK. The 2017 Grand Prize winner will be announced April 28, 2017.
