Fire Prevention Week is designed to provide an opportunity for fire and life safety educators to unite in sharing fire safety awareness and prevention messages in their communities. Countryside works to do this not only during Fire Prevention Week, but also throughout the year in various ways. As part of those efforts, the Countryside Fire Protection District is sponsoring a Middle School YouTube Video Contest for Fire Safety and Burn Prevention. The contest is open to students enrolled in Fremont Middle School, Hawthorn Middle School North, Hawthorn Middle School South, West Oak Middle School, and Woodlawn Middle School. Entries will be judged based on how informative the video is and compliance with contest rules.
2011-2012 Middle & High School Contest 1st Place Video
Kurt Wickboldt – “The Genie in the Box”
Vernon Hills High School
Click here to view all of the 2011-2012 winners.
These and previous year’s winners as well as other Countryside videos can be seen on YouTube™ on the CountrysideFire Channel. Additional fire safety videos can be found on the FireSafetyChiefs’ Channel.
Prizes
The Grand Prize team will share $300 in American Express gift cards.
The Second Place team will share $200 in American Express gifts cards.
The Third Place team will share $100 in American Express gift cards.
Contest Information & Rules
Contest registration forms and waivers must be printed and completed by each team member and signed by a school representative. Entries will ONLY be accepted from school-sponsored communications courses or sponsored extra-curricular groups. Communications teachers or faculty sponsors must review and approve all storyboards before filming starts.
Multiple entries from the same school or program are allowed as students may wish to work in small groups or teams on the project.
Videos should be a maximum of 90 seconds in length exploring burn prevention topics.
Videos must be submitted on a DVD. The video format must be capable of being uploaded to YouTube™ (for example, MPEG, MP4, FLV) and meet YouTube’s policies. No copyrighted material can be included.
The video should include age appropriate material for a target audience of students in the middle school grades. All videos should be well researched and must be educational and informational. Students are strongly encouraged to contact their local fire departments, hospitals, and libraries to help with their research.
Material should not demonstrate risky or otherwise unsafe behavior. There can be NO actual fire. (So many YouTube videos show risky behavior but never tell the “rest of the story.”)
A rubric for how the videos will be evaluated is available for download below.
Entries should be submitted on DVD no later than 4 PM on Friday, March 22, 2013 to:
Tony Rodkey, Public Education Coordinator
Countryside Fire Protection District
600 N. Deerpath Drive
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
Students on a winning team will share the prize.
Information for Educators
This contest addresses learning standard components 3C.4b, 3C.5b, and 4B.4a (Grades 6-8) of the Illinois English Language Arts Curriculum Framework and Learning Standard-Contributing to the well-being of one’s school and community. School districts offering communications classes, which include the design and creation of media productions, are encouraged to promote this contest through an independent or group assignment as part of its curriculum delivery.
Fire Prevention & Safety Awareness Links
National Fire Protection Association
Campus Firewatch
US Government’s FireSafety.gov
Forms
Registration Form
Contest Information & Rules
Participant Waiver
Judging Rubric