CHALLENGE ENTRY (APRIL 18, 2025 BY 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME)

How do you or your team enter the Design Our Future U.S. High School 2024-2025 Challenge?

Email us your submission as early as November 1, 2024 and prior to 11:59 pm on April 18, 2025. 

Your submission should be in a document-based format (Google Docs, Microsoft Word, PDF, etc.) and can be emailed to [email protected] and include the following a Solution Concept Briefing and required Consent Forms. Submissions may also include Additional Documents. Each submission for a team should only be submitted by one team member (but on behalf of and copying all other team members on the email submission).

Solution Concept Briefing

The solution concept briefing is the core of your entry submission.  In this document, you should ensure that you:

  • Provide a title of the submission
  • List the names of all of the submitters (either an individual or multiple individuals, if a team)
  • List the age, high school (or note homeschool), and city/state of each submitter
  • Provide contact information (email, phone, and address) for each submitter
  • Provide a short summary of your solution concept (less than 500 words)
  • Describe in detail your solution concept and how it addresses your selected challenge topic (as many words as you like)
  • Provide the location (city and state – or even the community/neighborhood) for your solution concept design
  • Develop a graphical representation or multiple graphical representations (including through computer illustrations, photography, and/or hand sketches) of your solution concept
  • Detail the potential benefits of your solution concept design to your community
  • Discuss how the solution concept design could be used outside of your community
  • Detail any positive sustainability, environmental, or health attributes of your design solution (if any)Describe why this solution concept design is meaningful to you (and your team, if submitting as a team)

Additional Documents (optional)

You may submit any additional documents you believe to be important for the judges to consider in evaluating your submission along with the Solution Concept Briefing. Audio or video files can be included, but should be submitted as a link to a YouTube or Vimeo posting.

Consent Forms

For a complete (and acceptable) submission, an individual or each team member must also submit a completed and signed Parent or Legal Guardian Consent Form along with the Solution Concept Briefing.

Other Entry Options

If you are a student with a disability, you may submit an audio and/or video description of your solution concept design (by providing a link to a YouTube or Vimeo posting), as needed, or contact [email protected] by April 18, 2025 to discuss other possible modifications and options to enable participation.

Timeline

The timeline for the second annual Design Our Future U.S. High School Challenge for the school year 2024-2025 follows.

  • September 16, 2024: U.S. High School 2024-2025 Challenge Launches
  • November 1, 2024: Submission Period Begins
  • April 18, 2025, 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time): Submissions Due
  • May 30, 2025 (or earlier): Award winners and honorable mentions are notified and also announced on the website
  • June 6, 2025 (or earlier): Prizes will be distributed to first, second, and third-place winners for each topic