Contest Details

Act Out Loud 2013 is all new!  This year high school teams will plan an Act Out Loud rally to take place in May as part of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month.  Check out this video from a rally for Global Youth Traffic Safety in May 2012.There are fun projects along the way to help your team earn up to $1,000 for your rally, and qualify for the grand prize of $10,000!

There are six steps this year – all of them are not mandatory, however, each step earns points for your team and every point earned equals $1.  Steps 1 and 5 are mandatory and you must complete them in order to earn your team stipend and get your toolkits.  The toolkits are FREE once again, and will be sent out in March 2013 to all teams that complete steps 1 and 5.

Steps 1 and 5 are worth 275 points each.  Steps 2-4 are worth 150 points each.

How to Register

• Registration opens September 4, 2012.  Use this form to collect information.
  
• Gather the following information:
• School name, address, city, state, zip code
• School enrollment size:  how many students attend your school
• Picture of school/mascot/team (pick one and upload as a jpg)
• List of team members (names/phone/email)
• Organization name (SADD, FBLA, FCCLA, etc.) if applicable
• How you heard about Act Out Loud

• Go to www.ActOutLoud.org and click on the Register Now tab
• Complete the form and submit!

Step 1:  Submit Date and Location

• To earn 275 team points ($275) for Step 1 – Submit date & location of team rally until April 1, 2013 (note that the sooner you register, the more money you can earn for completing steps 2-4 by the deadlines).  Your team cannot earn any money without completing this step.
• Use the Rally Planning Guide (can also be downloaded in the electronic toolkit) to start planning your Act Out Loud Rally.
• Meet with your team and talk about your Act Out Loud Rally
• Talk about your team goals for your Act Out Loud Rally
• List ideas for rally activities
• Talk to your school administration to determine and set a date for your rally (rallies are to be held April 29 – May 17)
• Put the Act Out Loud Rally date on the school calendar
• Complete the information on the form at ActOutLoud.org and enter it on your team page.
• All rallies will appear on a master calendar on www.ActOutLoud.org

Step 2:  Design Promotional Materials for Toolkit

• To earn 150 team points ($150) for Step 2 – Promotional Material Design must be submitted by November 30, 2012.
• Be creative!  What promotional items (key chain, lanyard, thumb band, buttons, stickers, etc.) would you like to see included in this year’s toolkit?  What could your team use to host a great school rally?
• Check out the electronic toolkit on ActOutLoud.org and in the Rally Planning Guide for ideas
• Create a document with 5 product ideas.  Download the template, which can be found in the electronic toolkit.  List where you found it, and any other information about the item that you feel would be helpful to explain use.  Save document as a jpg and submit it to your team’s Act Out Loud page.
• An evaluation team comprised of youth and adult traffic safety leaders will select best entries and 10 runner-up selections to be showcased on www.ActOutLoud.org and social media sites.  Judges will evaluate toolkit items based on creativity and practical application.

Step 3:  Design Act Out Loud Poster for Toolkit

• To earn 150 team points ($150) for Step 3 – Submit a design for the official Act Out Loud Poster by January 23, 2013.
• Poster should be an 11 x 17 design that is used for marketing your Act Out Loud Rally
• Be creative!  Design a fun poster that promotes your team’s Act Out Loud Rally.
• Save your file as a jpg and enter it on your team’s Act Out Loud page.
• An evaluation team comprised of youth and adult traffic safety leaders will select best entries and 10 runner-up selections to be showcased on www.ActOutLoud.org and social media sites. Judges will evaluate posters on messaging, creativity and design.

Step 4:  SAFE-Tee Shirt Design

• To earn 150 team points ($150) for Step 4 – Create a design for the official Global Youth Traffic Safety Month SAFE-Tee Shirt.  Designs must be submitted by February 28, 2013.
• You can host an in-school design contest, or have someone on your team create a design.
• If you host an in-school Safe-Tee design contest, you can use the information found in the electronic toolkit to download voting tools, suggested judging criteria and more!
• Judge the competition in your school and enter your local winning design on your Act Out Loud team page.
• The Top 25 designs will be uploaded to an album on www.ActOutLoud.org.
• Vote for your favorite design on www.ActOutLoud.org between March 8-12.
• The design with the most votes will be the Act Out Loud winning design and that will be the Global Youth Traffic Safety Month SAFE-Tee shirt!

Step 5:  Submit Final Rally Plans

• To earn 275 team points ($275) for Step 5 – Submit Final Rally Plans by March 4, 2013.  You cannot earn any money without completing this step.
• Use the Rally Planning Guide (can also be downloaded in the electronic toolkit) to plan your rally.
• The following information must be included in your team’s final rally report:  date, location, time, who is invited,who is attending, activities that you have planned, speakers involved
• Use the form at ActOutLoud.org to enter your final rally plans on your team’s Act Out Loud page.

Step 6:  Host Your Rally and Submit a Video/Slideshow

• Have fun!  Use the Rally Planning Guide to stay focused and on track for your team’s big day.
• Document your rally with pictures and video (VERY IMPORTANT!)
• After your team’s Act Out Loud Rally, plan to meet with your team to work on team’s video/slideshow submission.
• Make team video/slideshow fun and informative.
• Showcase what you did, who attended, who your speakers were, music that was played, etc.  Judges want to know all about it.
• This is your time to shine – your video/slideshow determines the winner of the $10,000 grand prize.
• Submit your video/slideshow by May 24, 2013.
• Submit form to show your school participation percentage.

Here is a quick timeine to go by so you know your deadlines

 NOTE:  Steps 1 and 5 MUST be completed to receive team rally stipend toolkit.

Judging Criteria

Judging throughout the contest will be based on the following criteria:

• Involvement of entire student body – 30%
• Creativity of activities – 20%
• Strength of teen safe driving message – 20%
• Community involvement – 10%
• Who attended – 10%
• School administration involvement – 10%

Electronic Toolkit

The electronic toolkit for 2013 can be found at www.actoutloud.org/toolkit.  Here is a list of resources available for download in the toolkit:

• Rally Planning Guide – VERY important tool in the success of your rally
• Pre- and Post Rally Questionnaire
• Print Materials that are in the free toolkit (flyers, postcards, poster, tent cards, etc.)
• Save the Date cards
• Rally invitations
• Printable calendar of dates and timeline
• Task lists/planning tool for week-of and day-of rally
• Meeting minute records log
• Rally expense log
• Ads for school newsletter and website
• Media kit (sample press release and media advisory)
• Participation certificate for AOL team members
• Pledge links pdf

If there is anything else you would like available, please contact Julie Kettner at jkettner@noys.org.