Second Rain Watchers Awards: Project Rain Gauge Contest Mechanics and Guidelines

Here are the contest mechanics of the Second Rain Watchers Awards: Project Rain Gauge.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Project Rain Gauge (PRG) Team - The team will be composed of one team adviser and two leaders.
1. PRG Team Adviser
• He or she should be a bona fide faculty of the school, preferably teaching science or any science-related subject.
• The team adviser is responsible in ensuring that the reading and recording of rainfall data is accurate, and its reporting is updated.
• His or her task as team adviser is to organize the PRG team in the school, and to guide them in conceptualizing and in implementing all PRG-related activities, and in choosing the best practices that the team will write blog entries about.
• The team adviser is also expected to regularly coordinate with the Project Rain Gauge secretariat.
2. PRG Team Leaders
• Two (2) bona fide students of the school. If the school is an elementary school, the team leaders will be grade five students at the duration of their one-year term as team leaders; if the school is a high school, the group leaders will be third year high school students at the duration of their one-year term as team leaders.
• They are to be the president and the vice president of the PRG team in their school.
• Their task is to lead the school team members, in conceptualizing and in implementing all PRG-related activities. Team members of elementary schools may be from grade one to grade six level, while team members of high schools may be from first year to second year level. PRG-related activities are activities that the school team will do in benefit of Project Rain Gauge and of the team itself. Examples are reading, recording and reporting of rainfall data, awareness campaigns in school, partnership with the communities, and the like.
• The team leaders, with the guidance of their team adviser, are to decide on what best practices they will write about as entries to the contest.
2. Contest Entry
   

• For existing members of Project Rain Gauge, a complete contest entry should be composed of the following:

1. Accomplished 2nd Rain Watchers Awards Entry Online Form
• Description: Used by the PRG team when a PRG member school wants to join the Rain Watchers Awards. URL: http://fs2.formsite.com/smartschools/form4lindex.html
2. Accomplished School Head's Endorsement Form
3. A complete blog site containing all the blog entries of the PRG Team's best practices, and profiles of the team officers and members and of the school. ONLY the blog entries about the PRG team's best practices for the year 2011 are valid topics for blog entries, and will be included in the judging. The participating school's blog must be on blogger (www.blogger.com).
   

• For non-members of Project Rain Gauge, and wants to be a member and join the contest, a complete contest entry should be composed of the following:

1. Accomplished Project Rain Gauge Membership Online Form
• Description: Used by the school when it wants to become a PRG member school URL: http://fs2.formsite.com/smartschoois/form3/index.html
2. Accomplished 2nd Rain Watchers Awards Entry Online Form
• Description: Used by the PRG team when a PRG member school wants to join the Rain Watchers Awards. URL: http://fs2.formsite.com/smartschools/form4/index.html
3. Accomplished School Head's Endorsement Form
4. A complete blog site containing all the blog entries of the PRG Team's best practices, and profiles of the team officers and members and of the school. ONLY the blog entries about the PRG team's best practices for the year 2011 are valid topics for blog entries, and will be included in the judging. The participating school's blog must be on Blogger (www.blogger.com).

ELIGIBILITY

The 2nd Rain Watchers Awards is open to all bona fide Project Rain Gauge partner schools, elementary and high school, nationwide.

For non-member schools (public and private, elementary and high school) that wish to join, kindly fill out the PRG Membership Form to qualify in the Rain Watchers Awards.


ENTRY FORMAT

1. The blog site must at least contain the following details:
1. Complete name of school
2. Complete address
3. School logo
4. PRG team profile
5. A page for weekly updates of your rainfall data
2. For your blog entries, please be guided by the following format:
1. A blog entry must be composed of a minimum of 300 words, and a maximum of 500 words.
2. Each entry must be accompanied by three to five related photos with caption. You may upload photos taken using any kind of camera, or using mobile phone camera. Scanned photos are also acceptable.
3. If you wish to add more photos, make a separate page that you may label and use as photo gallery.
4. All blog entries and photos uploaded must be related to Project Rain Gauge activities.
3. It is strongly encouraged that you explore and enhance the features of your blog.
   

 
ENTRY CONTENT

The blog site may contain stories about the team's best practices for the past years. However, please note that ONLY the blog entries about the PRG team's best practices for the year 2011 are valid topics for blog entries, and will be included in the judging.

Here are some topics that may guide you in writing your blog entries:

1. Reading, Recording and Reporting of Rainfall Data
1. Let us know of the criteria you had in mind in forming your school's PRG group. How did you select or invite the students and your teachers? You may talk about the things that you are doing to ensure that everybody in your team, or even in your school, knows how to use the manual and/or digital rain gauges properly.
2. Also, it will be better if you can include stories about the logistical challenges you faced in installing your rain gauges, its maintenance, the completeness of its parts, with measuring sticks, record sheets, etc.
3. Do you keep a journal of your daily recordings? Tell us how you report and update your data to the website and/or blog site regularly, from the time of the installation of your rain gauges. If you do not yet have a username and password, your journal and manual record will be enough.
2. Promotion of Awareness and Action in School
1. Share to us your teaching techniques. With the variety of subjects you discuss in class, how do you connect it with Science topics, such as weather or climate change, and even with other subjects like Math? Or, have you tried integrating PRG with the important events in your school, like the first day of classes, the Science and English Months, the Earth Day and Teachers' Month celebrations?
2. How did you request for the assistance of your local DepEd officials and your school principal? Their active participation is needed for memo and policy releases regarding Project Rain Gauge and other related matters. They can also support you in making special projects like investigatory reports about the environment by endorsing you to agencies that can give assistance in research.
3. Inform us of your scheduled activities for the whole year. Are you planning to hold an annual school program for PRG? How about echoing the trainings you were able to undergo?
3. Partnerships with the Community
1. Explain to us how were you able to tap other schools to be your partners in implementing PRG. What activities do you hold with them?
2. Engaging your local government unit in implementing PRG is a commendable task. What activities have you had in collaboration with the barangay, the Sangguniang Kabataan, and the like? This also applies to your tie-ups with civic groups and non-government organizations.
4. Recognition
1. Being a candidate for and a recipient of awards and commendations from your school and from your community is very rewarding. What plans do you have so that others may also achieve what you or your team achieved?
2. Tell us how it was like to be featured on your school paper or newsletter, on newspaper, radio, internet, and even on TV. What were the activities in PRG that you accomplished to experience such? How did these experiences encourage you to share your knowledge to others and to continuously participate in Project Rain Gauge?
5. Online Campaigns
1. You can let the whole world know about what you are doing and achieving in Project Rain Gauge. Write about your teachers' and students' participation on Facebook and on other social networking and blog sites. How did you encourage them to have their own online accounts?
2. Have your PRG team leaders, members, students and teachers in schools added Project Rain Gauge as your friend in Facebook? Are you active in joining our PRG gimmicks? Tell us of your experience when you won your prize from us. Or, if you haven't won yet, what keeps you motivated to actively join our gimmicks?
   

NOTE: These are just topic guides. You may focus on other subjects aside from those listed above, as long as it is related to Project Rain Gauge.

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING

It is important that the PRG schools were as able to submit their URL's and blog site names during the registration for the awards. The blog sites and blog entries of the participating schools shall be judged per region, choosing one as their official entry. Among the total of 17 official entries from every region, the Project Rain Gauge Secretariat will shortlist 10 entries, from which all the judges will select the Champion, the First Runner Up, and the Second Runner Up.

ONLY the entries about the PRG team's best practices for the year 2011 are valid topics for blog entries, and will be included in the judging.

Blog Site Does the over all look and design of the blog site reflect the value of the PRG team's best practices?	30%
Blog Entries Do the blog entries strongly convey to the readers the school team's Project Rain Gauge best practices?  Are the stories clearly written? Do the photos show the effort and dedication of the team? Were all the stories and photos related to Project Rain Gauge? Can the weekly rainfall data be seen on the blog site and are updated?	70%

BOARD OF JUDGES

National Judging

PAGASA-DOST
Department of Education
Typhoon Committee Foundation, Inc. and AGHAM
Smart Communications, Inc.

Note: All of the entries of the participating school will no longer undergo the regional judging, but all of these will be included in the national judging set on the 4th week of October and there will be three (3) national winners only.

AWARDS AND PRIZES

Regional
Awards	Prizes
Winners	For the team: - Medals For the school: - Laptop
National
Awards	Prizes
Champion	For the team: - Php 25,000 - Medals - Mobile phones each member - Plug its each member For the school: - Plaque - One desktop computer - One Smart Bro Plug it
1st Runner Up	For the team: - Php 15,000 - Medals - Mobile phones each member - Plug its each member For the school: - Plaque - One desktop computer - One Smart Bro Plug it
2nd Runner Up	For the team: - Php 10,000 - Medals - Mobile phones each member - Plug its each member For the school: - Plaque - One desktop computer - One Smart Bro Plug it

COMPETITION TIMELINE

Date	Activities
Whole month of April up to May 14	Registration for PRG Membership and RWA Contest
Whole month of May	PRG training by PAGASA in DepEd regional offices
June to September	RWA Contest Period -Advisers and leaders to form PRG teams -Reading, recording and reporting of rainfall data -Conceptualization and implementation of activities -Data gathering and compilation -Creation of blog sites and uploading of blog entries
October 2nd week	Regional Judging
October 4th week	National Judging
December 3	RWA Awarding

COMMUNICATIONS

Project Rain Gauge Secretariat
Smart Communications, Inc.
Public Affairs Group
8/F Smart Tower 1, 6799 Ayala Avenue, Makati City 1226

Email address: dbrioferio@smart.com.ph
Phone: +63 2 5112530


FORMS

1. Project Rain Gauge Membership Online Form
• Description: Used by the school when it wants to become a PRG member school
  
• URL: http://fs2.formsite.com/smartschools/form3/index.html
2. 2nd Rain Watchers Awards Entry Online Form
• Description: Used by the PRG team when a PRG member school wants to join the Rain Watchers Awards
• URL: http://fs2.formsite.com/smartschools/form4/index.html
3. School Head's Endorsement Form
• Description: Used by the PRG team in registering as a PRG school member or as a contestant to the Rain Watchers Awards
  

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