All submissions due October 11, 2019

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This year Regionals will be using the Educators Rising 2019 Rubrics from Nationals. Students placing in the top 2 from the Northeast Regional Conference will be eligible to advance to the Kansas State Competition which takes places in February. IF you need access to the rubrics or have questions about a competition please email edrisingks@gmail.com. 

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Children’s Lit 

The book may be written and illustrated by one individual (the author/illustrator) or two individuals (as co-authors or one author/one illustrator) Assistance with illustrations using graphic design, computer animation or other artist assistance is permissible for the artwork of the book. The participant will prepare the original short story book format designed for a specific age audience (ages 3-5, ages 6-8, or ages 9-11).

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​

  • Children’s Literature K-3 

    • A signed “Statement of Originality” must be completed and submitted with the book. Click here for that form.  Completed form may be sent to nldamron@mnu.edu​

    • To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

  • Children’s Literature Pre-K

    • A signed “Statement of Originality” must be completed and submitted with the book. Click here for that form.  Completed form may be sent to nldamron@mnu.edu​​

    • To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

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Educators Rising Leadership Award 

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​​

•  To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

• The Educators Rising Leadership Award Competition, sponsored by the PDK Greater San Antonio chapter, encourages inspired, proactive Educators Rising members to make an impact in their communities. Contestants seek to exemplify sound leadership and a strong commitment to improving education in their communities. The final award is given to one Educators Rising member who has made notable, voluntary contributions to his or her community through education. To enter this competition, Educators Rising members must successfully complete a self-initiated service-learning project that meets several requirements:

  • The project benefits individuals with special needs.

  • The project includes a sustainability strategy so that the project’s impact will not end when the Educators Rising Leadership Award Competition is over.

  • The project cannot be part of the required curriculum for a course.

  • The project requires a minimum of 40 hours of work.

  • The project must be led by a single Educators Rising member. (While collaboration is encouraged, only one student per project will be eligible to win the scholarship.)

  • Submit the complete project portfolio by the competition registration deadline stated in the General Competition Information sheet.

Entries are limited to good-standing Educators Rising members in high school, who are juniors (11th grade) or seniors (12th grade)​

 

Educators Rising Moment 

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​​

• To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

• Contest Purpose The purpose of the Educators Rising Moment Competition is to provide students at the Educators Rising National Conference opportunities to articulate why they aim to pursue a career in education.

• Competition Guidelines

  •  The speech must be about the speaker’s personal experience that illustrates the power of being an educator. Being specific — as opposed to depending on clichés or broad statements — in sharing your story is very important.

  • Speech should be original, creative and capture the audience’s attention.

  • Each presentation is to be a minimum of three minutes and a maximum of four minutes.

  • One judge will also serve as timekeeper. Speakers will receive a visual, non-verbal indication that there is one minute remaining when they reach the three-minute mark of their speeches.

  • Speakers may use up to five 4x6-inch index cards while presenting. Only one side of each card may be used.

  • A lectern and microphone will be available for the presentation.

 

Ethical Dilemma 

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​​

• In this competition, the Educators Rising school program must debate an ethical education related dilemma. This competition requires students to think deeply about an ethical issue, employ critical-thinking skills, and use persuasive communication techniques to collaboratively debate an ethical dilemma.

• To participate, each member of the school program must first thoroughly consider the ethical issue and begin to form an individual position on the topic. Then the students must debate the topic together, listening carefully to each other’s opinions. Through the discussion, the students must come to a consensus on the topic and then prepare a 10-minute live presentation stating their team’s view.

• The students must work together to develop the live, 10-minute presentation and then select at least two and no more than four students from the school to present the group’s opinion and how it was reached to a panel of judges at the National Conference.

• Competition Guidelines

  • Get together and present the ethical dilemma narrative included.

  • Spend adequate time discussing the dilemma. This deliberation may take several meetings. As a group, answer the ethical dilemma questions listed with the ethical dilemma narrative included.

  • When the discussions have concluded, and a consensus has been reached, prepare a 10-minute live presentation stating the team’s view on the dilemma.

  • No fewer than two and no more than four student representatives from competing school programs will participate in a 15-minute interactive session with a panel of judges at the National Conference. In the 15-minute interactive session, the student representatives will deliver their live, 10- minute presentation to a panel of judges. The presentation should be a professional, clear, and decisive response to the dilemma. How the decision was reached and what factors were considered should be included in the presentation. Use of AV materials (ex. an original PowerPoint or Prezi presentation, short video, etc.) is permitted but entirely optional for the 10-minute presentation. For the balance of the 15-minute interactive session, the judges will ask the students questions about their deliberation process, the factors that were considered when making a decision, how they reached consensus, and other questions relevant to the deliberation process.

  • One judge will serve as time keeper during the presentations. Team members will receive a visual, nonverbal indication that there is one minute remaining when they reach the nine-minute mark of their presentations.

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Ethical Dilemma Scenario At age 26, Tina Lopez is very proud to begin teaching her first senior level English course at Brown High School. Tina has been teaching at Brown for four years and has finally earned the opportunity to teach 12th graders. She is excited to support her students both in learning English, and in preparing for their plans after graduation. Her senior level course contains several football players, a couple of whom have received offers of athletic scholarships from state universities. The Brown High School football team is expected to win the state championship this year, and the whole town attends their Friday night games. The week before the state championship game, the head football coach comes to Ms. Lopez’s room. He is concerned that the quarterback is currently failing Ms. Lopez’s class and wants to know what can be done about it. If this student doesn’t have a grade of D or above at game time, he will be unable to play and the team probably will not win the championship without him. The coach encourages Ms. Lopez to give this student a few extra points on his past tests so that his grade will be passing. Ms. Lopez attended Brown High School herself and knows how important the football team and this game are to the community. She also knows that if this student is not academically eligible for the state championship game, he is in danger of losing his athletic scholarship offers. This student does not have any other career goals besides football and sees sports as his only chance of success. However, if anyone finds out that she falsified grades, she could lose her job and teaching license. It also violates her personal moral code to award this student grades that he did not earn. Ms. Lopez does not want to let the community and the football team down, but she also does not want to put her job and her credibility as an educator in jeopardy. What should she do? What would you do?

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Exploring Careers 

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​​

1. Exploring Non-Core Subject Teaching Careers               To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.​

2. Exploring Support Services Careers                              To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

3. Exploring Education Administration Careers                  To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here. 

• Contestants will select one educator that works within their school district or local college or university and will receive permission from the imdividual to job shadow him/her for a total of eight hours. The eight hours are not expected to be consecutive; rather they are accumulated over a period of several days or weeks and occur when the administrator is actively engaged in his/her work.
• Contestants will complete and submit when registering for the competition, the following two career- exploration documents:
  • Verification form
  • Interview form
• Contestants will also create a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation no shorter than five minutes and no longer than seven minutes that will be presented on-site to a panel of judges, followed by a discussion featuring questions from judges. Presentations should reflect on the experiences and insights gained into the career.​​

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Impromptu Speaking

• To sign up for this competition, click here.  

• To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

Poise, self-confidence, and the ability to use effective oral communication skills while under pressure are valuable qualities of all educators. This competition is designed to recognize students who demonstrate these qualities by combining clear thinking and conversational speaking into a coherent presentation on a current education-related topic.  Contestants who enter this competition will receive the topic upon the start of the event.  The topic will not be shared prior to the conference.

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Inside Our Schools Presentation

• To sign up for this competition, click here.  

• To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

• The purpose of the Inside Our Schools Presentation Competition is to allow Educators Rising students to showcase one innovative strategy that their school or school district employs to enhance teaching and learning. Innovative strategies do not necessarily mean new technology. An innovative strategy is a deviation from the standard practice that results in greater engagement and learning outcomes for students. The strategy must be something that the school or school district has begun to implement no earlier than 2018. The creative presentation, which will involve live presenting and a video, should appeal to anyone looking for smart ways to take teaching and learning to a higher level.

• Competition Guidelines

• VIDEO

  • The video must be no shorter than three minutes and no longer than five minutes. Points will be deducted for videos that are shorter than the minimum length or longer than the maximum.

  • The video must showcase one innovative strategy that the participating team’s school or school district employs to enhance teaching and learning.

  • The video must include the competition name and title of project. It must also include name of the school, city, and state in the opening credits (Example: This message was brought to you by Kirkwood High School’s Educators Rising program in Bloomington, IN).

  • In the video, all source media (music, images or video clips not originally filmed by the student competitors) must be cited in video credits and may not violate any copyright.

  • By submitting a video for this Educators Rising national competition, the competitor assumes full responsibility for securing all required, documented consent from persons appearing in the video, or their legal parents/ guardians if they are under the age of 18.

  • Competitors must also bring their video to the competition site, saved in .mp4 format, on a USB drive.

• ORAL PRESENTATION

  • At the Educators Rising National Conference, no less than two and no more than four representatives from each participating school program will make an oral presentation to a panel of judges. During the presentation, team members will have up to five minutes to introduce their video and to provide description and context. Students will then play the video for the judges. The entire presentation to judges (oral presentation and video) will last no more than 10 minutes.

  • Professional presentation skills are encouraged.

  • Following the presentation and the video, the judges will have up to five minutes to ask questions to team members.

 

Job Interview

• To sign up for this competition, click here.  

• To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

The Job Interview Competition is an opportunity for future teachers to develop and practice their interview skills, as well as cover letter and resume writing skills. In this competition, entrants apply for a position as a paraprofessional (a link to position description can be found here: Job Interview Competition Information). This includes submitting a cover letter explaining why the entrant is a good candidate for the position, as well as a resume that details relevant work, volunteer, and educational experiences.

 

Judges will review the cover letters and resumes and — just like any job application/interview process — candidates whose resumes are selected will be interviewed for the position. Interviews will take place on-site at the Educators Rising Conference. The judges will act as the school district’s hiring committee and will ask questions of the job candidates one at a time.  Since high school graduates are eligible to be employed as paraprofessionals in many districts, this competition offers an immediate opportunity for a real-world application of the work entailed in participation.

Competition Guidelines

• Entrants will apply for the following teaching assistant position: Paraprofessional (see job description included in this PDF) B. The cover letter must follow a standard cover letter format; review the information on this link (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/r esource/723/03/) to see expectations for formatting and content of a successful cover letter.

  • Note: You do not need to already possess a high school diploma to participate in this competition, but be sure to indicate in your materials when you expect to receive the diploma.

• The cover letter must be typed and in English. It should not exceed one page.

• The cover letter should complement, not duplicate, the entrant’s résumé. The cover letter should explain the reasons for the entrant’s interest in the position and school and identify his or her most relevant skills or experiences. The letter should express a high level of interest and knowledge about the position.

• The résumé may follow a standard résumé format; review the information on this link (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ resource/719/1/) to see expectations for formatting and content of a standard résumé. However, students may use alternative résumé formats if they feel that will put them in the best possible position to obtain the job they are seeking. (Always remember your audience!)

• The résumé should be typed and in English. It should not exceed two pages.

• The résumé should include at least two references. H. All information in the cover

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Lesson Planning

Planning, preparing, and delivering effective instruction is the heart of the work of all educators. This competition challenges young educators to plan and deliver a lesson of their choosing to an actual classroom of students. Self-reflection following the lesson is an essential component of this competition; a clear-eyed evaluation of what you’ve done in the best way to learn and make wise choices in the future. 

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​

  • ​Lesson Planning & Delivery – Arts                                           To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

  • Lesson Planning & Delivery – Career & Technical Education       To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

  • Lesson Planning & Delivery – Humanities                                To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

  • Lesson Planning & Delivery – STEM                                        To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

 

Public Speaking

• To sign up for this competition, click here. ​ 

• To Access the 2019 Educators Rising Rubric Click Here.

• Self-composure, confidence, and the ability to clearly articulate and communicate information are valuable skills for all educators. The Public Speaking Competition is designed to highlight students who demonstrate these qualities by combining thoughtful preparation and confident delivery into an interesting presentation on a current education topic.

• Students participating in this competition will compose and deliver a speech of approximately 400 to 600 words (three to five minutes when spoken aloud) on the assigned topic. Contestants will be delivering their speech in front of on-site judges.

• Assigned Topic In the 2019 PDK Poll, 61 percent of respondents say schools should offer classes in Bible studies and comparative religions, with seven percent saying they should be required. Evangelical Christians are most supportive of offering Bible studies in schools and most concerned that comparative religion courses could cause their child to question their family’s faith. 69 percent of respondents say that schools should offer comparative religion courses, while seven percent believe that those should be required. What factors must be considered when incorporating Bible studies or comparative religion into civic studies? What barriers might a teacher encounter when delivering comparative religion curriculum that has been mandated by their district/state? How would a teacher overcome these barriers?

• Competition Guidelines

  • The speech must be about the assigned topic. Research and use of data are encouraged.

  • The length of the speech should be approximately 400 to 600 words (three to five minutes when spoken aloud) in length.

  • Two copies of the Public Speaking Competition speech script must be brought to the competition and given to the judges at the start of the contestant’s presentation.

  • The contestant may use up to five 4x6- inch index cards while delivering his or her speech. Only one side of each index card may be used for notes.

  • Each presentation is to be a minimum of three minutes and a maximum of five minutes. A timekeeper will record the time used by each contestant, noting deductions of three points for each full half-minute (30 seconds) over the five minute maximum or under the three minute minimum. In order to adhere to the schedule, the judges will stop any speech that exceeds six minutes.

  • Contestants will receive a visual, non-verbal indication that there is one minute remaining.

  • A lectern and microphone will be available for the presentation.

  • One visual aid may be used, but this is entirely optional. AV equipment will not be available for this competition

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Please note that the Ted Talk (Creative Lecture) and Researching Learning Challenges competitions will not be  offered at the Kansas Regional Competitions. Students wishing to compete in these two will advance directly to state. 

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