Challenge 20/20 is an Internet-based program that pairs classes at any grade level (K-12) from schools in the U.S. with their counterpart classes in schools in other countries; together the teams find local solutions of one of 20 Global Problems. There is no fee to participate and no travel required.
All elementary and secondary schools are invited to participate in Challenge 20/20. They may be public or private schools, located anywhere in the world. Schools need not be members of NAIS. At a school, the group of students participating may be part of a particular academic class or other group such as a club or after-school activity. Proficiency in English is required to participate in the program.
Read more about the program below
1. Your School Applies to Participate by August 16, 2013.
• Apply online.
• Download a PDF of the paper application form.
If your school already has an established relationship with a school in another country, we encourage the two schools to work together. Please indicate the school on your application form and ask that school to do the same.
More than one team from a particular school may participate if they wish to tackle multiple problems, provided its partner school agrees to form multiple teams or provided NAIS can locate multiple partner schools. We must receive individual application forms from each class or academic group wishing to participate.
If your school does not have a partner school in mind, simply select the problems (up to five in order of preference) for which you would like to work toward a solution, and the term during which you wish to participate. NAIS will work to partner your school, based on the problems and terms you have selected.
You can apply to participate in one of the following two terms or in both terms:
•Term One: September 2013 - February 2014. Report due on February 3, 2014
•Term Two: January 2014 - May 2014. Report due on May 9, 2014
2. NAIS Attempts to Partner All Schools.
We will do our best to partner all schools and will notify schools of partnerships by mid-September. In the event that we cannot partner your school by September, we will notify you and we will continue to attempt to partner you as we sometimes receive applications throughout the year. If we cannot find a partner for your school this year, we will give your school priority for next year's program, provided you re-submit an application form. In that event, your school could also opt to participate in Challenge 20/20 as a non-partnered school in preparation for next year.
3. You Contact Your Partner School then Submit the Agreement for Participation.
Term One: Agreement for Participation due to NAIS by September 30, 2013.
Term Two: Agreement for Participation due to NAIS by January 27, 2014.
Immediately after we announce the pairings for the Challenge 20/20 program, all schools should contact their partner schools and submit the Agreement for Participation, which must be signed by your head of school. Even if you are participating as a non-partnered school, you should submit an Agreement for Participation.
• AGREEMENT FOR PARTICIPATION FORM for schools that have been partnered: PDF format or Microsoft Word format.
• AGREEMENT FOR PARTICIPATION FORM for non-partnered schools: PDF format or Microsoft Word format.
3. Your Team Gets to Work!
At the start of the school year, student-teacher teams should begin to work on their solutions. All schools within the partnership or team will be expected to incorporate the program into their curricula and to keep regular contact with each other. We have prepared a series of guidelines and criteria to assist you. All Challenge 20/20 partnered schools that submit reports will receive a certificate at the end of the program acknowledging their participation.
COLLABORATE WITH YOUR PARTNER VIA THE CHALLENGE 20/20 PORTAL.
NAIS has partnered with TakingITGlobal, an organization that offers a collaborative learning community which provides youth with access to global opportunities, to offer participants the FREE Challenge 20/20 Portal. LEARN MORE.
NON-PARTNERED SCHOOLS PARTICIPATION.
Schools that have not been partnered that opt to participate as a non-partnered school should follow the same guidelines as partnered schools without the communication component. Non-partnered schools will not receive a certificate of participation unless it is requested by the school.
HOW NAIS WILL COMMUNICATE WITH YOU.
We use the NAIS Challenge 20/20 listserve to communicate updates and important information to participants. Once partnered, all Faculty Sponsor and School Contact emails will be added to the Challenge 20/20 listserve. If you would like to unsubscribe, please email Ioana Wheeler at
wheeler@nais.org.
5. You Submit Your Team's Report by the Established Deadline.
The Challenge 20/20 faculty from the U.S. independent school or the primary team contact will submit an online report on behalf of the team. Please coordinate the content of the report as a team prior to final submissions. The online report will ask questions about the team's solutions and about the experience. LEARN MORE.
In addition to your online report, you may also submit supplementary materials that will be used for display purposes and marketing of the program. LEARN MORE.
MORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ABOUT CHALLENGE 20/20.
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Questions? Contact Ioana Wheeler, director of global initiatives and board of trustees programs, at
wheeler@nais.org.