Educators - The Verge Awards for Teens on the Verge of Greatness!

DEAR EDUCATOR

After two very long and difficult years, your students could really use something uplifting to focus on, right? With your support, they can enjoy something they will never forget... in a good way! Starting this fall, all teens can finally

shine in the virtual spotlight (the next best thing to live performances, exhibits and competitions)
“hear” applause and encouragement from massive online audiences (and their favorite celebrities!)
win Verge Awards and life-changing prizes and experiences
are discovered by college and other talent recruiters
use their passions for visual and performing arts, STEM, advocacy and/or volunteerism to raise awareness of and $millions for causes they care about (which can be truly rewarding and empowering during these tough times)
recruit volunteers and raise $investments for their own ideas and inventions
earn National Core Arts, STEM and/or capstone, community service and volunteerism credit (if you so choose!)

I invite you to explore the different levels of your involvement below, from simply informing your students and families about this wonderful program, to incorporating it into your curriculum and helping them with their entries - it's all up to you.

So thank you for all that you are doing, and I look forward to serving you, your students and families as best we can.

With sincere appreciation,

Linda

Linda Neaton

Founder of The Verge Awards

OUR BROADER GOALS:

Lift the spirits of heartbroken teens whose high school and community plays, concerts, exhibits, tournaments and other live events that have been cancelled… again.
Celebrate the diversity of teen passions and talent in a fun and culturally-relevant way, increase mutual respect and reduce bullying.
Invest in underserved teens with tremendous raw talent and potential by offering free educational content, mentorships, scholarships and life-changing experiences.
Encourage disengaged and underperforming students to pursue their passions and help them learn about varied careers that value creative and technical abilities.
Enable business to use their marketing dollars to change the world, in a good way!

Something for EVERY TEEN!

Festival of Teen Talent, Passions & Potential

Dozens of Virtual Stages & Galleries showcase all forms of talent!

Youth-Led Creative Force for Good

Cause-specific challenges empower teens to use their passions to "Be the change"

Benefit Variety Shows!

Teens are the “stars” in virtual benefit variety shows that showcase Festival entries and raise awareness of and $millions for causes teens care most about

Visual / Media Arts Challenges

Visual artists create Verge Awards stages, trophies, animations, pictograms, web content and more

Music Production Challenges

Musicians compose Verge Awards theme songs, jingles, music for variety show segments and ads.

(A different theme will be featured each week in the benefit variety shows!)

Be the Face of The Verge Awards

Outgoing personalities emcee variety show segments; journalists capture inspiring, educational or entertaining stories; content creators build social media channels

Student leaders and creatives build a massive, uplifting movement

Build virtual cheering sections, run social media, PR and digital advertising campaigns and more to help raise $millions from sponsors

A bright spot for EDUCATORS too!

By simply encouraging students to visit the website, or even incorporating The Verge Awards' numerous opportunities into your curriculum, you will:

spark creativity and lively classroom (including virtual) discussions
provide interest-driven, real word, culturally-relevant learning opportunities
reach and empower disengaged students by demonstrating your support of their unique passions & abilities
improve attendance, engagement and academic achievement
discover and support hidden talent and potential among your more reserved students
increase collaboration and mutual respect among students
engage parents in an uplifting expression of their teens' passions

Frequently Asked QUESTIONS from Educators:

Answers to TOP TEN (10) FAQ's:

All teens age 13-19 may participate whether or not they are enrolled in high school, and even if they are in junior high school or college.
There is NO COST for teens to participate; schools are not required to pay any fees or perform any administrative tasks. (All of our costs are covered by sponsorship fees.)
There is no separate audition for the benefit variety shows! Weekly shows will feature entries to the Festival and CFG selected by adjudicators, celebrities, recruiters, public voting and random drawings.
We are employing relaxed judging criteria to encourage teens with no formal training but tremendous raw talent, passion and potential to participate
Teens may participate in the Festival and CFG just for the fun of it or opt-in for adjudication and public voting as they upload their entries.
We will screen all entries for appropriate content before posting them in their respective online venues. Any personal contact information about entrants will be strictly protected and never publicly displayed.
We anticipate pre-screened casting/talent scouts will visit the online venues, thousands of college recruiters will subscribe to the Talent Registry to offer scholarships, and corporate sponsors may offer internships, scholarships and other learning opportunities to participants.
Teachers may choose to offer this online format as an option in their curricula and even offer Arts, STEM, capstone or community service credit toward graduation (but should never require students to participate)
School-based groups (music, dance, theatre, journalism, tech, etc.) may enter only if all members agree. They should not gather to produce a new entry if it is not safe to do so – instead, they may be creative and record a virtual performance
We will cover any copyright fees for protected works used by students if they declare their use upon uploading entries. If copyright owners decline use, the entry will not be published.

Your level of INVOLVEMENT is up to you.

Help spread the word!

encourage students to take part in something exciting and uplifting, a way to use their skills to help others
talk through the high level programming (Festival, CFG, Benefit Shows), how to participate, deadlines
print and display/distribute flyers with links to the website
tell parents/guardians about the opportunities

Talk through opportunities; add optional deliverables into your curriculum

talk through the many talents we are celebrating
discuss Creative Force for Good cause-related challenges and ways they can use their passions to “Be the change!”
create optional deliverables to earn arts, STEM and/or capstone, community service credit

Provide direct support to students

encourage classroom collaboration e.g. produce benefit shows, compose theme songs, develop marketing and social media campaigns
help students develop challenging, personally-relevant goals that tap into their passions
provide support/point to available learning resources
provide ongoing feedback and encouragement

EDUCATORS' NETWORK

Sign up (it's free!) for a communications toolkit, to receive updates and announcements, and to share best practices with each other. The more who join, the more funds we can raise from sponsors!

No SPAM, no worries!