Contest Guidelines and Rules

Helpful hints and reminders will be posted weekly on the Shout Out Facebook page found at www.facebook.com/shoutout.harrisonburg.rockingham.  “Like” Shout Out for a leg up on what we’re looking for!  Feel free to ask questions there; someone else might be wondering about the same thing.

The following rules must be followed, or your submission will be disqualified.  

1. Entries must include, in some way, the theme:

“Shout Out to Harrisonburg and Rockingham County teens! Capture how teens (you!) are making a real impact and how important teens are to the life and future of the community.”

(This can include what you, the artist, are doing or what others are doing around you to make our community a better place and/or what impact you and/or they are making.)

2. Entries may be in the following forms and must be the original work of the person or group submitting:

Visual Art- May include acrylic, ceramics, digital media, glass, mosaic, illustration, mixed media, sculpture, oil, pastel, photography or watercolor. 

Video/Film- May be in the form of a short film (8 minute maximum), tv commercial or public service announcement (3 minute maximum).

Poetry- Entries not to exceed 100 lines.

Essay- Entries are to be between 700 – 1,000 words.

Song Writing- includes any musical genre and must be recorded onto a cd or video taped.  Printed lyrics must be submitted with entry.

3. Submissions should be sent to the Strong Families/Great Youth Coalition in one of the following ways:

Email to: becky@sfgyc.com or

Mail to: Becky Johnston, RMH Community Health,2010 Health Campus Drive,Harrisonburg,VA22801

Drop off entry at the RMH Atrium:411 Stone Spring Rd.,Harrisonburg,VA22801.

4. The deadline for entry is 5 p.m. December 16, 2011.  If sent by mail your entry must be postmarked by this date. Winners will be notified during the week of January 4, 2012.

5. Submissions will be judged on 3 sets of criteria: creativity and originality, clarity and logic of thought and how you used the theme (see #1).

6. Submissions must be created by a Harrisonburg or Rockingham County high school student or group of students with up to 4 participants.

7. You may enter as an individual or as a team.  Team members must be listed on the entry form, found at: http://sfgyc.com/contests or by contacting Becky Johnston at 540/810-2005.  Entry forms must be submitted with your entry.  Should your entry be selected as a winner, the prize must be divided evenly among all team members listed on the entry form.

8. More than one entry may be submitted by a student.

9. A completed Consent Form is required for each person under age 18 involved in the process of producing an entry as well as anyone pictured or named in any entry. 

10. If borrowing anyone else’s ideas or intellectual property to supplement your entry: a complete work cited page is required and must be completed in MLA or APA format.  This includes any photographs, sound effects, researched facts and statistics or borrowed quotes from a published source.  Do not use any photographs or film footage without written permission from the owner and all people in the photograph/film footage. This includes footage of any school event.  Photos that appear on the internet and in magazines usually have copyrights and cannot be used (all movie, video game and TV footage is protected, as are news photos and film footage).  Entries may be subject to plagiarism software.  Any entry containing plagiarism will be automatically disqualified.

11. Entries may contain only content acceptable for school; vulgar language and graphic content are not permitted.  If you have a question about what might be inappropriate, please call Becky at 540/810-2005.

For Music Submissions: Use of public domain sound effects is permitted but must be acknowledged (see #8 above). Any entry using music or sound effects that are not your own must follow the software license agreement and must be sited or acknowledged.

For Video Submissions:

1. No alcohol or any illegal drug can be consumed, used or appear to be consumed/used during the making of your video.

2. Automatic disqualification will occur if content in video entries contains dangerous stunts, unsafe driving, vomit or toilet scenes.

3. Do not show any company names or logos (businesses, high schools, universities or cemeteries) trademarks of art, including those on hats, shirts and other items of clothing. Do not use any distinguishable products or containers, even if the labels are removed.

4. Do not include any phone numbers or website addresses except for www.sfgyc.com when appropriate. You may include your name and those of your team in the content of your entry if you choose, although it is not necessary.

5. Use of public domain sound effects or songs is permitted but must be acknowledged (See #8 above).  Any entry using music or sound effects must either use Garage Band Software, consistent with the Garage Band Software License Agreement or your own music created and performed by you alone or with your team members.

Entries submitted to the SFGYC competition will not necessarily be returned and may be displayed, duplicated, edited and exhibited for educational or promotional purposes as deemed appropriate by the SFGYC.  Submissions constitute your approval for such use and exhibition.  We suggest you make a duplicate if possible of your entry in case it is damaged or lost in mailing.

For more information or if you have questions, contact Becky:

Phone/text: 540/810-2005, Email: becky@sfgyc.com