Open Door Visions (ODV) Production Directors Rick Gority and Ray Liddick Jr. are eager to begin accepting submissions for tyronepa.com’s first ever scholarship contest to benefit Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis high school seniors who are looking to continue their education.
ODV will be accepting projects from local seniors beginning March 1, and lasting throughout the month. Projects will not be accepted after March.
“This is the first year, so it might be a little confusing this time around because it’s different from most scholarship contests,” said Gority.
Liddick and Gority wanted to give something back to the community with the funds they have been generating from tyronepa.com through advertisements. The scholarship contest offers an opportunity for local students in the community to earn money for college that totals $1,000. Three winners in three different categories have the chance to win $250 each, with one overall winner taking to the school of their choice $500.
“I’m hoping the biggest problem I have is having too many submissions,” added Gority. “We hope the students here show an interest, because we want to know what kind of raw material these kids will be taking with them to college.”
Although the contest was a quick creation this year, ODV plans on continuing the scholarship annually and hopes to increase the prize money that is awarded. Tyronepa.com and its forum members, along with Google advertisements have provided the funds for the contest.
The contest has three categories that are based around the three aspects of the tyronepa.com duo’s ODV business: print media, web media, and multi-media (audio/video). The projects the senior students are asked to complete mirrors what tyronepa.com is all about – the local community.
For example, a student can submit in print media and do a brochure on local tourism; a student can submit in web media and design a web site around something in the community; and for multi-media, a student could make a video designed around a local football team.
“The print media category can include a students’ artwork or photography,” said Gority. “We can digitize drawings or pictures for use in the contest.”
Each candidate is permitted to submit only one project, so a student can’t have one project in all three categories. One category must be chosen.
Gority added, “We’re dealing with a limited amount of kids in the senior classes, so we’re hoping to find the kids who are interested from both Tyrone and Bellwood. It’s a different kind of scholarship aimed at kids who want to excel in this particular area of art-based work.”
During the first two weeks of April, ODV will post the students’ project on tyronepa.com for everyone to view. The community will assist in voting for the winners. A total of 100 points will be awarded to the students, half of those points will be determined by the community through online voting. The other 50 points awarded by the tyronepa.com staff.
On April 15, the online voting will begin and last until April 30. People must register on tyronepa.com, which is free, to be eligible to vote. There is a one vote limit per person.
On May 1, the public’s voting results will be posted on tyronepa.com and on May 8 the results of ODV’s allotted points will be made public. The overall winners will be announced on May 9.
The top three winners of each category will make up the nine finalists. Each of those places warrant a different allotment of points – 50, 40, and 30 points; the other 50 points will be judged by ODV as already stated. The 50 points awarded by ODV will be based on three other criterion: creativity, technical and originality.
The qualifications for the scholarship contest includes: a student must be a senior at Tyrone Area or Bellwood-Antis High School; a student must graduate in the Spring of 2008 with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher; employees and family members of ODV are not permitted to participate as a contestant; and at the time of check disbursement, the student must present proof of enrollment in the academic track of his or her choice.
Students and the community can visit tyronepa.com to learn more about the scholarship contest, such as submission guidelines and how to submit, along with examples of the competition categories and more general information about the contest.
