Who can participate in the Open Call?
The contest is open to anyone! Entries can be from an individual, a group of people or an organization. We particularly welcome submissions from groups or families which involve cross-generational collaboration between school age youth, their parents/guardians, grandparents or other trusting adults. Learn more about the 2023 Open Call.
Who is organizing the Open Call?
The Teen Health 360 Open Call is organized by an independent group of faculty, staff and students at EVMS and local public schools, sex education and crowdsourcing experts and other local community members. Learn more about the Steering Committee.
We believe in the power of the local community!
What formats are being accepted for submissions?
Your submission can be one of the following categories: 1) written narratives of stories or experiences (PDF, one page or less), 2) images, such as drawing and painting, 3) audios or videos (5 minutes or less in length) or, 4) other mixed media works which involve one or all of these elements. The submission should be related to the 2023 Open Call topic.
What is Virginia Public Schools Family Life Education?
Family life education refers to sex education as formally labeled through the code of Virginia. It is colloquially used by many public school districts, staff and families of young people in the state. The Virginia Board of Education has approved the Family Life Education Board of Education Guidelines and Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. Virginia's standards for family life education provide a comprehensive, sequential K-12curriculum. They include age-appropriate instruction in family living and community relationships, abstinence education, the value of postponing sexual activity, the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy, human sexuality and human reproduction.
Instruction is designed to promote parental involvement, foster positive self-concepts and provide mechanisms for coping with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living according to the students' developmental stages and abilities. Parents have the right to review the complete family life curricula, including all supplemental materials used in any family life education program.
What is a crowdsourcing open call
Crowdsourcing is the process of having a group solve a problem and then sharing that solution widely with the public. The basic idea is that groups of people can work together to solve problems that individual experts cannot. Crowdsourcing tools, such as challenge contests, are increasingly used to improve public health.
An open call is one strategy that can be used to crowdsource information from a broad array of people. Open calls invite people to contribute creative ideas in response to a specific problem, followed by sharing and implementation of exceptional ideas that are contributed.
If you are interested in open calls and crowdsourcing as a strategy for solving public health problems, please check out these useful resources:
Video: SESH (Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health) on the benefits of crowdsourcingA systematic review of crowdsourcing in health and medical research (open access)A conceptual paper on the theory and applications of crowdsourcing in health and medical research (open access)A paper on crowdsourcing applications in public health (requires library access)
Who are the judges?
Judges will include EVMS clinicians and students, sex education and crowdsourcing experts, local public school teachers, parents/guardians, students and other community members. Learn more about the Judging Committee.
What is the judging criteria?
Relevance of the content to the Teen Health 360 Open Call theme "What does a healthy relationship look like for teens?"Relevance to the program target populations (middle and high school students, teachers, parents, guardians, and other caring adults)Creativity/InnovationInclusivity: submission speaks for one or more subgroups of diverse populations (e.g. by age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity) and does not contain bias against any subgroupFeasibility of information for program useOverall quality of submission (e.g. logic flow, structure, design, grammar, and visual impression)
Where do I submit?
Make submissions through this online form. Learn about the requirements for submitting to the Open Call.
What is the deadline for participating in the Open Call?
All submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 31st, 2024
Can I submit more than one idea?
Yes! Please contribute as many submissions as you wish. Read more about the requirements for making a submission.
What are the prizes?
A total of $2,500 in prizes will be awarded for exceptional winning submissions ($50 to $200)
Will I retain my intellectual property?
Yes, you will retain all intellectual property that is submitted. However, be aware that the point of this open call is to create open-access information sharing to generate program strategies and key messages for use in the Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education program. All personal information shared during this contest will be processed in accordance with the current General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules.
By submitting your entry to the contest, you agree to grant the organizers the right to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store and re-format your entry and any accompanying materials.