Now Debate This Announces "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge"

Now Debate This, America's only national online educational debate and $250,000 high school scholarship contest, announced a new, exciting competition to the 2009 program year to coincide with President-Elect Obama's first 100 days in the White House: "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge." This competition will ask high school students from across America to research their communities' biggest energy problems, and develop Energy Solution Proposals they can implement at the local level. The winners will earn a $5,000 clean technology prize for their school or organization, and an opportunity to share ideas with national experts, such as members of President Obama's cabinet, Congress, and the energy industry.

Students will identify and research their communities' most pressing energy problems through the creation of a timeline with background information and develop actionable plans to resolve the problems, including an economic and feasibility assessment. The contest will begin at 12:00:01 Eastern Standard Time on January 20, 2009 and close at 12:00:01 Eastern Standard Time, April 30, 2009.

Entries will be judged on creativity, historical research and analysis, the written proposal and accompanying video, documentation and feasibility. Judging panels will be convened by Now Debate This, comprised of representatives from education, non-profit, business, industry, technology and/or government sectors. Winners will be announced in May 2009.

In order to be eligible for "The 100-Day Presidential Challenge," high school student groups must:

• Create a project web page on the Now Debate This Confab site. The students will use this page to communicate their work through blog entries, photos, videos, news articles and other appropriate presentations. Judging will include evaluation of the content generated on the group's page.


• Research the history of energy usage in their communities, and develop a timeline that includes the key actors and actions in their community's energy use, as well as an explanation of the scope of the problem today. Students must upload the timeline on their Now Debate This Confab web page.


• Create a SMART Energy Solution Proposal detailing the project and how it will be accomplished. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time frame. Student groups will use these five categories to analyze the feasibility and economic efficacy of the Energy Solution Proposal. The written proposal should be accompanied by a video presentation of no more than 90 seconds, which describes the problem and demonstrates why the students' idea poses the best solution. Video presentations will be uploaded to YouTube.com and SchoolTube.com.

For more information, see http://www.nowdebatethis.com/contests/100-day-presidential-challenge