Thirty Five-day Video Challenge
About:
Students in the 12 secondary schools around North Louth and East Meath (including Dunleer and Laytown) will have a chance to complete a 35-day video challenge and win part of the increased €2000 Drogheda Young Innovators prize due to support from State Street, Fitz Scientific, Amazon, East Coast Bakehouse, and Coca-Cola International Services. Challenges range from predicting the latest technology in 2040, completing a book or Wikipedia entry, taking a walk, or designing Drogheda United’s new stadium as part of their Wellness programme.
In 2014 The Mill Enterprise Hub and supporters launched a competition for secondary school students, encouraging them to think like innovators in the fields of business, social enterprise and science. The standard format involved an application process from 12 schools with new ideas on how to make a small change or a big difference in the world we live in, whether that’s a new business to provide new products/services, or a social enterprise to improve a process in the local community, or a science project that reveals/proves something great.
This year we decided to change the format of the well-known DYI competition and focus on completing challenges across headings including mental and physical health, social interactions within each family, business , innovation, technology, and self-development. The amended 35-day video challenge format allows students to participate in the competition from home and gives them an opportunity to learn and develop new skills in a fun and friendly environment.
New Format:
We will be sending each school a list of challenges which are presented in the form of “a to-do list”, or “a challenge” (group team or individual) . All tasks will be separated into different sections such as Environment, Drogheda community, Mental and Physical Health, etc., and each task will have a value of points attached to it, based on the time and effort required to fulfil it.
Participation process
Within a certain (Feb’ 22nd to March 29th) timeframe, participants must tick off a selection (at least 15 of the over 50 potential challenges) of completed challenges and film the process of EACH task completion on their phone/camera. A compilation of these videos will have to be assembled into a film. The end result, i.e., a film of approx. 5 minutes in length, will be uploaded onto a private YouTube page by each participant/group for remote judging.
Participants should state their name and school(s), and mention the specific challenge they’re completing, at the commencement of each video.
All participants should adhere to their school’s safety policy, and to directives from the Department of Health, and the Department of Education.
We will hold a Zoom session for entrants mid-way through the application process. This will be an opportunity to discuss any technical or other potential issues. We may also hold a training session (video and/or technology), and have a guest speaker.
Judging process:
Judges will use a shared cloud document to score each participant, based on scoring criteria below. Each judge gets a dedicated column alongside other judges’ personalised fields for scoring. Participant names and links to their videos will be presented on the left of the table. After scores are assigned in all columns (i.e., by all judges), a total can be calculated for each participant on the same document.
Submitted films will be analysed for the above criteria and evidence of ‘outside-the-box’ thinking. Ten individuals or teams with highest totalling scores will be picked as finalists.
2 teams and 2 individuals will receive additional cash prizes– team members will share the prize among themselves based on the number of participants.
Total prize pool: €2000
All Ten finalists will receive a €100 cash prize
In addition, there will be additional prizes for:
- ‘Best Individual’ submission €100
- Runner-up Individual Submission: €50
- ‘Best Team’ submission: €400
- Runner-Up Best Team Submission: €250
- Ad hoc tbc, 4 x €50 prizes across finalists & non-finalists (most innovative, funniest video, most entries from any school, most developed idea etc). Judges may determine additional prizes.
There will be one overall winner (either team or individual) declared – Additional €200.
An Individual can win up to €400 prize, (Finalist prize, Best Individual, and Overall winner)
A team can win up to €750 gift voucher, (finalist prize, Best Team, Overall Winner)
The award ceremony:
Shortlisted teams and individuals will be invited to an online video award ceremony. (we might extend the invitation to all entrants, depending on technology limitations)
As the film length is set to an average of 5 minutes, 10 shortlisted participants will be invited to the ceremony. A 2-hour session (includes break) will allow for 50 minutes of videos, participant introductions, judges’ commentary and the actual winner announcement.
Each team or individual presents their film to videocall attendees via “screenshare”, introducing themselves to judges and participants from other schools, and giving a brief overview of the finished project (challenges, things learned along the way, advantages of completing tasks, etc.).
The judges will meet beforehand to score the 10 finalists, but will have discretion to make final alterations to scoring, based on students’ presentations. The ceremony is predominantly held for entertainment and to allow judges to explain their choice of winners.
drogheda-young-innovators-2017-overall-winner drogheda-young-innovators-2018-overall-winners drogheda-young-innovators-2018-sponsors Drogheda Young Innovators 2019 Overall Winners
Benefits for students:
- 30-day challenges are highly motivating for achieving goals.
- Teamwork, delegation and communications skills – mainly offline
- Collaboration between students and teachers
- Spending quality time with the family, good memories
- Improved mental & physical health
- Practice of thinking outside the box
- Fun activities to do during lockdown
- Film recording and editing techniques
- Having their say in school upgrade/town development
- Exploring a big variety of topics within one competition (environment, health, art, science, business, social enterprise, etc)
Hashtag for tracking social media mentions: #dyi2021
Social media accounts to tag: @themillenterprisehub*All participants should adhere to their school’s safety policy, and to directives from the Department of Health, and the Department of Education, especially in relation to Covid-19.
* Hate speech, racist, and sexist comments, or any call for discrimination or anti-democratic action will be removed, and reported to the relevant schools.
According to Breanndán Casey, Innovation & Enterprise Manager at The Mill, “the traditional format involved an application process with new ideas on how to make a small change or a big difference in the world we live in. We’re really excited about the amended 35-day video challenge format which allows students to participate in the competition from home, and gives them an opportunity to learn and develop new skills in a fun and friendly environment. Challenges have been designed specifically to encourage creativity and innovation, as well as boost the skills needed in the current climate – online team meetings, remote work, task delegation and goal setting, time management, thinking outside the box, and creative presentation skills. Students should use the hashtag #DYI2021 when posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and our team will be tracking hashtag activity across the three platforms “.
Each challenge from the approved list has a difficulty rating attached to it, and students need to complete at least fifteen of the challenges. The final task will include some editing as students are required to put together a compilation of videos, presenting the challenges they have completed on camera. A combination of score results based on creativity, difficulty, innovation, and new skills will determine the winners of DYI 2021. Entrants are asked to state their name and school(s), and mention the specific challenge they’re completing at the commencement of each video.
Geoff Fitzpatrick of Fitz Scientific commented “This year’s prize pool is a massive €2000, with ten finalists receiving €100 each, plus additional awards for “Best team submission”, “Best Individual Submission” and some ad-hoc prizes. The overall winner can win €750 as part of a team project or €400 as an individual entry. It’s fantastic to see support from local and multinational companies, and the judges are always amazed at the quality, ambition, and creativity of local teenagers. There will be an online Zoom meeting with students in mid-March to discuss any technical issues and provide inspiration with a guest speaker talking on technology and Innovation”.
Winners will be announced at a Zoom final on April 30th that includes screening of the ten finalists’ videos. Further details are on www.droghedayounginnovators.com .
2019 Overall Winners – ‘Music & Memory’ from St. Mary’s Diocesan School with supporters and sponsors.
Scoring criteria
| Criteria | Maximum Marks |
| Innovation / Evidence of new skills learned. New ideas developed from challenges, unexpected outcomes. | 30% |
|
Evidence of teamwork and effective delegation (all team members equally involved and have distinct tasks/roles to help project completion). Collaboration with family members, teachers, fellow classmates. Utilisation of external resources (e.g., collaboration, interviews over Zoom with local organisations, national or international influencers) |
20% |
| Number of Challenges completed – Degree of difficulty, challenges across categories (at least 3 tasks from each category completed) |
20% |
|
Creativity – unique approach, video stands out among others. Film quality (good image and sound, appropriate length, level of editing, clarity of information, extra features, e.g., music/text/visual effects, etc.) |
15% |
|
Local Impact – changes and influence on school / Greater Drogheda region |
15% |
For additional Information please contact:
Breanndan Casey 087 629 2144 bcasey@themilldrogheda.ie
Geoff Fitzpatrick 086 242 1581 geoff.fitzpatrick@gmail.com