Online Youth Video Competition Aims to Teach Kids About Civics

Registration continues for the O’Connor Civics Challenge, an online youth video competition that provides entrants with a chance to win valuable and exciting Apple products. Open to all U.S. students entering sixth through ninth grade in fall 2021, participants are challenged to choose one civics topic from a list of categories, then create a three-minute video submission creatively detailing what they’ve learned.

“Through this challenge, we hope to encourage students to learn about topics that cover all branches of our government, as well as what their rights and responsibilities are as citizens,” said O’Connor Institute President and CEO Sarah Suggs. “In this second year of the competition, we’re eager to reach even more youth to get them excited about and engaged in civics learning.”

The categories will remain the same as last year, with one very special new category added to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of Justice O’Connor’s historic appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981. The six video categories are: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Citizenship: Rights and Responsibilities, Checks and Balances, The Legislative Branch, The Executive Branch, and The Judicial Branch.

Participants and their parents can view a brief online tutorial and instructions to produce a creative video, as well as multiple examples from last year’s winners. A signed parent permission slip must accompany each submission. Prizes will be awarded for first through third place, in addition to honorable mentions in each grade. Entries may be submitted from May 15 through July 15, 2021 and winners will be announced the week of August 16, 2021.

The O’Connor Civics Challenge exemplifies the institute’s multigenerational approach to encouraging lifelong civics learning for all ages. For more information or to register to enter, visit www.OConnorInstitute.org.