NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. Local educator Andi Stix feels children need more challenges, and has come up with a new one. In addition to her afterschool program for gifted and talented children, and an advocacy group she started, Stix has created a contest to help children come up with creative solutions to complex problems.
As our country faces daunting challenges, inventors, scientists, and community advocates have become new rock stars, said Stix. Her goal is to create the rock stars of the future. Children are often the best source of new ideas, because they have fantastic, boundless imaginations and energy.
Stix is a national education consultant whose afterschool program, the Gifted and Talented Enrichment Center, or G-TEC, enhances childrens learning, and whose county-wide advocacy group, Synergy, seeks to build a community for talented and gifted children, along with their families. Her contest, the Synergy Challenge, seeks to inspire children by giving them a problem to solve and rewarding them for the most creative entries.
The challenge, entitled Comic Animator, asks children to create a comic book character who can use superhero powers to solve complex problems. Participants will submit an image or video of their superhero and a written description of how their character improves the world.
There are three age categories -- elementary, middle, and high school. The submissions will be posted on Facebook and Synergy members will vote for their favorite entries. A panel of judges will then choose winners among a group of finalists.
Two winners will be chosen from each category on the basis of relevance, originality of thought, uniqueness of content, creative expression and grammar. Winners will receive a $50 gift certificate to The Learning Express, Amazon, iTunes, or the chance to donate the prize to their charity of choice.
We hope to share some of the winning entries with companies and organizations that can put these ideas into practice, and encourage the next generation of problem solvers, said Stix.
For more information and instructions on how to enter the contest, visit the Synergy Challenge Facebook page.
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