Contest Asks Kids to Create Positive Change in Westchester

G-tec Kids, an after-school enrichment program for gifted and talented children of Westchester County and advocacy group Synergy Westchester have partnered to sponsor a competition for kids in the community, challenging them to think critically about creating positive change in Westchester.

G·tec Kids, Westchester County’s after-school enrichment program for gifted and talented children and Synergy Westchester, an advocacy group dedicated to promoting the education and enrichment of gifted and talented children have partnered to sponsor The Synergy Challenge.

Synergy ChallengeCreating positive change in the community is no longer left to parents thanks in part to The Synergy Challenge, where the main goal is to tap into the vibrant, boundless imagination of childhood, and use it to solve real-world problems. What used to be considered merely play can now impact our community for the better, teaching children that you don’t have to be a grown-up to make a difference.

Always positive in spirit, each new challenge will encourage participants to improve their community, themselves, or another living thing and will involve the task of designing, creating, or building something realistic – it must actually work! Children participate in one of three age-appropriate categories as an individual or a group: Elementary (grades K-2), Middle (grades 3-5), Secondary (grades 6-12).

One winner will be chosen from each category on the basis of relevance, originality of thought, uniqueness of content, creative expression, and grammar. Members of Synergy’s Facebook community will vote for their favorite entries. A panel of judges will then pick winners from among the Facebook finalists. Winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

G·tec Kids director Andi Stix knows that children learn best in a hands-on environment. “I encourage children to explore the outer limits of their imagination,” Stix explains, “now they have the opportunity to make it a reality and to be an agent of positive change in their community.”

The third Challenge entitled, Comic Animator, starts Feb. 1, 2013 on Synergy Westchester’s web page (synergywestchester.org). All entries are due May 1, 2013.