World Children's Day. "La Escuela que es Mi Casa" contest: Tell us how it was

CARACAS, NOVEMBER 20, 2020.-  With the beginning of the school year, the home is once again transformed into an educational center for the children and adolescents of Venezuela, as it happens in the rest of the world. They, with the arrival of COVID-19, have had to rethink their way of learning. Sure that children and adolescents have a lot to say about the experience they have lived and shared with their family, El Pitazo, in alliance with UNICEF, is calling for the contest La Escuela Que es Mi Casa.

The pandemic forced a mother or father to assume the role of teachers; for a classroom to become a computer or cell phone screen; that recesses be lived from a distance, without games, without talks, without physical contact, and that school celebrations be postponed.

With the contest, The school that is my house, we seek to know how our children and adolescents have fared; what they feel, and what they think of this novelty that has arrived with the necessary permanence in the homes. Parents have shared their experiences, experts and teachers have issued their recommendations, and now it is the students' turn to express what it has been like to learn away from school, without sharing in person with friends and teachers.

More than a contest

La Escuela Que es Mi Casa was also created with the intention of awakening our children and young people an interest in writing, and providing the opportunity to experience how exciting it can be to tell a story as if they were telling a movie.

“You want to promote the importance of writing as a practice that promotes creativity and imagination. It also seeks to stimulate the correct use of the language as a fundamental tool for the training of demanding readers, desirous of quality texts and, as a consequence, of communication media and social networks with well-written content ”, comments the project coordinator, Loly Áñez.

Finally, the aim is to promote the relationship between reading, spelling, and writing, since these constitute fundamental practices for cognitive development, effective childhood learning, and the right to participation.

What do you need to participate?

• Be between 10 and 16 years old (We will have two age groups: 10 to 12 years old and 13 to 16 years old).
• Living in Venezuela.
• In which category? You can participate in one or more of the following categories: comic strip, poetry, or story.

Make your comic, poetry or story, from the following ideas: How do you feel learning from home? How do you imagine your return to school will be? What can you do to make that reunion with school the way you imagine?

Your work must be original, that is, it should only be done by you, without the help of someone else, and that it complies with the following:

Cartoon: you can only make a single cartoon, with an extension of two pages, maximum. You can use a brush, pencil, acrylics, watercolors, crayons, or any other material or technique that you like.

Remember that in order for the jury to see the comic well, you must ensure that the image sent is of good quality. If you win, you must deliver the original on the day of the awards.

Poetry: your poetry must be original and unpublished, that is, it must not have been published elsewhere and it must be your exclusive authorship. Its length should not be more than two pages.

Story: write your text with a maximum length of three pages. Don't forget to write a title for it. Take care of spelling and writing. Your writing must be authentic, that is, it has not been published elsewhere, and that it is your exclusive authorship.

Additionally, send us your full name, date of birth, a contact telephone number, and the full name of your father, mother, or representative.

• How should you send us your work? You must send us two documents: one with the name of the work and another with the contact information to make your participation effective.

Your work must be sent —through a photo or pdf— by email to the following email address contestelpitazo@gmail.com

• Deadline for submission: The works will be received from November 20 to December 21, 2020.

Powerful ideas to prepare your work

- Make use of your imagination and creative ability.

- Write from your experiences, your ideas, and your emotions.

 - Start with a draft where you write your first ideas, organize the structure of what you want to tell, review it with your family, remember that you have the dictionary as a good ally to find the words you need and confirm their meaning, the spelling and writing will be key so that readers can understand the meaning of your work.

- Make the final version to send to the contest and celebrate your work.

Prizes

1st place: A smartphone, a dongle (WI-FI hotspot), UNICEF articles, books (according to the age of the winner), a publication of their story on the El Pitazo and UNICEF website, a notebook from El Pitazo, an interview that will be published in El Pitazo.

2nd place: A smartphone, books (according to the age of the winner), publication of his story on the El Pitazo and UNICEF portal, a notebook from El Pitazo, an interview that will be published in El Pitazo.

3rd place: A Dongle (WI-FI spot), Books (according to the age of the winner) publication of his story on the El Pitazo and UNICEF portal, a notebook from El Pitazo, an interview to be published in the middle The Pitazo.

The qualifying jury will be in charge of selecting the winning works under the following criteria: 1. Originality and creativity. 2. Consistency of content. 3. Attachment to the subject of the proposal. 4. Agreement between the submitted proposal and the requirements of the call.

Publication of the results

The verdict with the winners will be announced on January 30, 2021, through a statement that will be published on the El Pitazo website and on the UNICEF website. The winners will be contacted directly by the contest organizers.

The jury may declare one or all of the categories void, in the event that there are no proposals in any of the categories. The jury may disqualify a work when plagiarism is detected. The jury may award honorable mentions if it deems it pertinent.

The award ceremony will take place on a date, time, and place that will be informed in advance.

Publication of the results

The verdict with the winners will be announced on January 30, 2021, through a statement that will be published on the El Pitazo website and on the UNICEF website. The winners will be contacted directly by the contest organizers.

The jury may declare one or all the categories void if there are no proposals in any of them. The jury may disqualify a work when plagiarism is detected. The jury may award honorable mentions if it deems it pertinent.

The award ceremony will take place on a date, time, and place that will be informed in advance.

Copyright

The copyrights of the winning works are owned by the authors. However, with their participation in the Writing Contest for Boys, Girls, and Adolescents with the theme La Escuela Que es Mi Casa, the winners authorize El Pitazo and UNICEF Venezuela to publish and/or reproduce the content of their works (in their entirety or part of them). These publications will become part of the heritage of the organizations and may be distributed and disseminated by them, granting the corresponding credits.

In this sense, the parents or those responsible for the authors of the winning works will sign a letter of authorization for their publication and dissemination.

Dare to compete, and keep in mind

We will not return original works. Enrollment and participation in the contest imply that you accept the rules set forth herein. Situations not foreseen in this call will be resolved by El Pitazo and UNICEF Venezuela. Works that have been presented in other contests will not be accepted; if they show up, they will be disqualified. Direct family members of UNICEF officials or relatives of El Pitazo employees or the qualifying jury may not participate in this call.

Protected identity

All the personal data that they provide will be protected, incorporated, and treated in strict confidentiality by the convening organizations.

If you have questions or need more information, you can write to concursoelpitazo@gmail.com