Q: Will I really have a chance to win?
A: Yes! We are awarding prizes in four categories, giving individuals and teams of all ages a real chance to win.
Q: What are the prizes?
A: Cash prizes will be awarded in four categories for Ruckus Nation:
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40 Semifinalists (10 in each category) will receive $250
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8 Category Winners (two in each category) will receive $25,000
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1 Grand Prize Winner will receive an additional $50,000
That means one great idea will win over $75,000 dollars!
In addition, each Category Winner will have the opportunity to identify a teacher or mentor who helped inspire the team’s winning entry; that person will be eligible for a $2,500 Inspiration Prize. (Parents and legal guardians of entrants are not eligible for this award.)
Q: What are the competition categories?
A: In Ruckus Nation, you/your team must compete in one of four different categories. The categories are defined as follows:
Middle School/Junior High School
Middle School/Junior High School (also known as intermediate school) covers the period of education between primary education (e.g., elementary school) and secondary education (e.g., high school). For example, in the United States, middle school/junior high school students are generally between the ages of 11 to 14 years (usually grades or education years 6 through 8). To qualify for the Middle School/Junior High School category, all team members must be enrolled in a middle school/junior high school or equivalent program (including home schooling).
High School
High School (also known as secondary school) covers the segment of education following middle school/junior high school. For example, in the United States, high school students are generally between the ages of 15 and 18 (usually grades or education years 9 through 12). To qualify for the High School category, all team members must be enrolled in a high school or equivalent program (including home schooling).
College/University
College/University (also known as post-secondary education, tertiary education, or higher education) refers to education following the completion of secondary education. Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows also fall into this category. To qualify for the College/University category, all team members must be enrolled full time or part-time in a post-secondary setting (e.g., college, university, technical college, vocational college, professional college such as law, medicine, or business).
Other
Participants in the Other category include any teams that do not qualify for the Middle School/Junior High School, High School, or College/University categories. This includes non-students (e.g., adults who are not currently students) as well as teams who are comprised of people from more than one category (e.g., high school and college students working together on one team).
Note: Definitions of Middle School/Junior High School and High School can vary by country or state/province. If you are unsure about which category to select for your team, please use the following age ranges as a guide for yourself/your team: Middle School/Junior High School (approximately ages 11-14); High School (approximately ages 15-18).
Q: How will the prize money be split among team members?
A: Prize amounts are per team.
The Semifinalist prize of $250 will be awarded to the Team Leader, who will be responsible for determining how that award gets divided among the team members.
Prize money for the Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner will be divided evenly among the team members.
Q: When will winners be announced?
A: Winners will be notified and announced publicly in early 2008.
Q: What are the rules of the competition?
A: Complete competition rules are posted at the Ruckus Rules page.
Judging
Q: When and where does judging take place?
A: Ruckus Nation judging will take place after the November 20 submission deadline. Judges will review and score entries online to identify Semifinalists, and special judging panels will select Category Winners and the Ruckus Nation Grand Prize Winner. Semifinalists will be announced on March 10, and all Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner will be announced at an award event on March 17, 2008. Take a few minutes to review the Judging Overview Process for complete details.
Q: Who will be judging the competition?
A: People of all ages were invited to apply to be a Ruckus Nation judge! We actively recruited judges that have expertise in physical fitness, product development and design, public health, kids’ entertainment, education, and/or adolescent development. Read our Become a Ruckus Nation Judge page for more details.
Q: How will the judges choose winners?
A: Winners will be selected through four rounds of judging, and all product ideas in all competition categories will be evaluated based on the same criteria. These criteria are:
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Appeals to kids (kids 11 – 14 years old will like the product)
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Gets kids moving (the product will get kids 11 – 14 years old to be more physically active)
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Keeps kids moving (the product keeps kids 11 -14 years old physically active)
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Originality (the idea is bold, fresh, and creative)
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Gives kids control (the product allows kids 11 – 14 years old to be in control of its use)
We’ve developed a standard scorecard based on these criteria that all Ruckus Nation judges will use. You can review a sample scorecard and details of how Ruckus Nation judging works by reading the Judging Process Overview .
Q: How will scores be calculated?
A: All Ruckus Nation judges will be evaluating entries using the same scorecard. This scorecard is based on five key criteria. To tabulate scores, the five criteria are weighted as follows:
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Appeals to kids [25 percent weight]
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Gets kids moving [20 percent weight]
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Keeps kids moving [20 percent weight]
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Originality [20 percent weight]
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Gives kids control [15 percent weight]
The "weights" represent the relative importance of each of the criteria -- the higher the weight, the greater the impact that criterion has on the overall score. Therefore, out of a potential maximum score of 100 points, up to 25 points of the score will be derived from the first criteria (appeals to kids), up to 20 points will be derived from the second criteria (gets kids moving), and so on for each of the criteria.
See a sample scorecard , similar to the one that Ruckus Nation judges will use and read more about the judging process to learn how the scorecard is used in each round of Ruckus Nation judging.
Q: What is a "workspace"? How will it be used by judges?
A: A workspace is the online area in which Ruckus Nation judges can view and access Ruckus Nation entries. If you have been selected to serve as a judge, you can log in to your workspace by typing your user name and password into the Sign In boxes on the left side of the page at www.ruckusnation.com. From your workspace, you also will have access to key documents related to the competition that will help you complete your assignment as a Ruckus Nation judge. When judging takes place in December, the entries you will be asked to judge will be made available in your workspace. We will send you an email letting you know that these entries are available and ready to be reviewed and scored. You will then score each entry from within the workspace using a scorecard similar to the Sample Scorecard.
