CALIFORNIA, Mo. -- Community cyber-support put California High School over the top in last year's online-voting Celebrate My Drive campaign.
Librarian Janet Henley hopes the community will come through again in the Collaboration Nation Facebook-voting contest, which opens today (April 1).
Just as the Celebrate My Drive campaign won the school $25,000, the Collaboration Nation contest's top prize is $15,000.
To get that, California High School's 90-second video has to receive the most votes by April 15.
The benefit of trying for these outside giveaways is "to do something extra," Henley said. "This is what not all schools get to do. It helps us get to that next level."
With the recent board of education decision to go 1:1 with Chromebooks and high school students in the fall, the contest funds would be used to explore solutions to student Internet access outside of the school building, Henley said.
"Kids really like the Chromebooks; they're fast and efficient," Henley said. "And we like them because they're affordable."
But the transition also presents concerns. This contest could help address one of them.
What the school needs from the community is daily voting from Facebook users April 1-15 on the "Natural Disaster Research Video Project" in the Collaboration Nation gallery of videos.
Henley will again send out daily email reminders with the link to those who sign up with her at [email protected]. More than 200 took advantage of this method for the Celebrate My Drive campaign.
She estimates the project needs about 600 votes each day to be in the running. Between seniors who are age 18 and more than 100 faculty and staff, Henley figures they need another 400 committed daily voters from the community.
"We need the community support because that's what helped win the Celebrate My Drive," Henley said. "We hope they see the potential for winning."
The biggest challenge for this contest was boiling down a five-year collaborative project into a 90-second explanation, Henley said.
Students in Jamie Johnston's earth science class also work with Mike Moon, information technology director, and Henley to develop large projects regarding natural disasters. In addition to learning about the topic, they learn new methods of collaboration and delivery.
Email to [email protected] for more information.
To vote, go to https://www.facebook.com/cdwgcollaboration/