Youth Activism Contest

Something about this doesn't feel quite perfect to me - perhaps the competitive part, or the tv part - but it still has promise :

New Contest Highlights Positive Youth Activism

An innovative new Web broadcaster is using the power of the Internet to inspire children and youth in schools across North America to make a difference. Quantum Shift TV is challenging students from grades one to twelve across the United States and Canada to participate in the "Be the Change! Share the Story!" School Video Contest. Students are invited to work on a social or environmental project of their choice, and document their progress in two short videos to be uploaded on the web. In addition to making a difference in their community, students have an opportunity to win up to $50,000 in prizes for their school.

Projects can range from volunteering at a homeless shelter to educating the community about human rights, measuring a school's carbon footprint to building a hospital in a developing country-anything that addresses an environmental or social concern in a positive, solution-oriented way. Student teams will execute their project and document their progress in a series of two short videos. The first video, introducing the team's project, must be uploaded to QuantumShift.tv by December 15, 2007. The second, reporting on the project's execution and results, is due by March 31, 2008.

In May, the 25 top-ranked videos in each age category will be reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges who will select the 3 finalists in each age group and invite the public to choose the winners. Judges include bestselling author and environmentalist Paul Hawken, actress Pleasant Wayne, skateboarder Bob Burnquist, executive-with-a-cause John Wood, Bioneers founder Kenny Ausubel and Nigerian women's rights activist Hafsat Abiola. Winners will be chosen based on community involvement, project execution, video quality, and overall social and environmental impact.

To provide project ideas and resources for both students and teachers, Quantum Shift TV has partnered with key organizations like UNICEF, Free the Children, Room to Read, TransFair, NAAEE, TakingITGlobal, The Pembina Institute, New Global Citizens, Sierra Youth Coalition, Rainforest Action Network, Care and Oxfam.

Students and educators can find out more and sign up for the contest at www.quantumshift.tv/schools.