The Get Outside Your World Contest
Engineers Without Borders Canada is thrilled to announce the 2009-2010 Get Outside Your World Contest, a national competition in which students, grades 6 - 12, are challenged to consider the world as they want it to be.
Download the Contest Guidelines for Teachers »
This year, Engineers Without Borders will award 4 scholarships to students across Canada who compete in the Get Outside Your World contest. The contest offers a unique opportunity to challenge your students in a way outside conventional curriculum. This contest is run across Canada, and engages students to think about how they can combat global poverty.
Assigning this as a project or class assignment is a neat way of pushing students to think more globally, and draw on real life experience. The essence of competing for prizes across the nation is also another motivator for students, contrary to completing assignments for grades.
In addition, if one student from your class wins, the entire class gains something from the experience. All winning entries will receive a presentation by a returned EWB overseas volunteer. This is an excellent opportunity for students to engage and discuss with a volunteer who, once like them, started to think outside their world in secondary school.
This year's questions:
- Considering the crisis of global poverty, explain 3 actions we can take to alleviate poverty. Describe 1 action taken by individuals (like yourself), the next by your community, and last by Canada as a nation.
- Describe an action you want to take or have already taken. How will the result of that action contribute to the world you want to live in?
How to get your students involved:
We want to know what students, grade 6-12 (including CEGEP), envision for a better world and how we can get there. Submissions can take the form of essays, video entries, and photo collages. Download the contest guidelines here. (instructions français à venir!)
Prizes for winning submissions include a class visit from an EWB overseas volunteer, $250 prizes for grade 6 to 11 students, and a $1,000 scholarship for grade 12 applicants. The contest closes on April 15th, 2010, so get outside your world today!
Past winners:
Students can find the contest details and read the entries of past winners on the EWB Youth website, http://youth.ewb.ca/contest. This year's questions are different, but past entries are still valuable and fun to read!