Christopher Columbus Awards
Eight finalists named for 2008!
Now in its 12th year, the Christopher Columbus Awards, a free program that challenges middle school students to explore opportunities for positive change in their communities, announces the program's Call for Entries for the 2007-2008 school year. Teams of up to four students and a coach identify a community issue and use the scientific process to solve it. Finalist teams win an all-expense-paid trip to Walt Disney World® where they compete for gold medals and U.S. Savings Bonds.
The award program has attracted over 15,000 'everyday' students from across the United States, and appeals to educators who are increasingly looking to develop critical thinking skills in students while meeting state and federal standards. The program:
- is a cross-curricular activity that helps meet both NCLB and state standards
- helps address the performance gap in U.S. science education by encouraging critical thinking skills in all students
- encourages community service.
Deadline and How to Enter
The Christopher Columbus Awards is free to enter. For more information and competition guidelines, call 1-800-291-6020 or visit www.christophercolumbusawards.com. Coaches may be teachers, parents, community leaders or mentors. Teams do not need to be affiliated with a school to enter. Watch here for the deadline for the 2009 Christopher Columbus Awards program.
Who Wins?
One of the 2007 winning teams was a group of students from West Branch, Iowa, who felt there was an environmental hazard caused by used oil filters being disposed of in household trash. They developed an awareness campaign to educate the public about the dangers of placing used oil filters in landfills. Past winners have also included a group of Native American girls who built a study hall out of straw on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana; and a group of students from Pennsylvania who developed a handheld grocery scanner that quickly deciphers food labels to detect whether the item contains allergens such as dyes or nuts. Many teams have gone on to develop patents on their ideas. Some entrants have decided to major in science in college as a result of becoming involved in the program. A complete list of past winners can be found at: www.christophercolumbusawards.com.
Strong Participation from Girls, Minorities
The program attracts many students who may not typically enter a science competition. More than half of the entrants are girls, and more than a fourth are from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, statistics that are higher than those of most science competitions.
About the Sponsor
The Christopher Columbus Awards program is sponsored by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation (www.columbusfdn.org) with support from the National Science Foundation and it is endorsed by National Middle School Association. The Foundation is an independent federal government agency created by Congress in 1992 to encourage and support research study and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind.