Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the U.S. Navy Leadership Challenge?
A: The U.S. Navy Leadership Challenge is a video essay competition sponsored by the U.S. Navy. The competition encourages students to creatively and publicly recognize an unsung Hometown Hero – someone they consider to be a model of leadership and community activism. The Leadership Challenge was created to inspire high school students in the New England region to discover the value of strong leadership and community involvement.
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Q: What is a “Hometown Hero?”
A: A Hometown Hero is a person (or persons) identified by the entrant as a leader in his or her community. Hometown Heroes can and should come from all walks of life and can be of any age. Contestants are encouraged to profile heroes who are not traditionally recognized for their contributions to the community. Hometown Heroes may be living or deceased. Hometown Heroes do not have to currently live in the entrant’s community but must have demonstrated a clear positive effect on the area at some point.
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Q: Who is eligible to enter the Navy Leadership Challenge?
A: All students between the ages of 15 and 18 as of 04/07/08, in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, are eligible to participate.
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Q: Does it cost anything to enter the Navy Leadership Challenge?
A: There is no charge for submitting entries to the Navy Leadership Challenge.
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Q: Am I allowed to submit multiple entries?
A: No, only one entry per contestant is allowed.
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Q: How do I enter the Navy Leadership Challenge?
A: Contestants should create a 1 to 3 minute video, in color or black/white, which best describes the leadership, commitment and value to the community of a chosen Hometown Hero. There are two steps to submit your film to the Leadership Challenge.
  1. Upload your video to the Leadership Challenge YouTube Group at http://youtube.com/group/LeadershipChallenge.
  2. Complete our entry form, including the YouTube URL of your video.
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Q: When are submissions due?
A: All submissions must be entered online by 11:59 p.m. ET May 15, 2008.
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Q: What should be in my film?
A: The film should be an original creation that highlights the entrant’s Hometown Hero. It should explain how the chosen Hero has affected the community and modeled strong leadership qualities. Entrants are encouraged to be as creative as possible and use images from across their communities.
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Q: Can entries be submitted by partners or teams?
A: No. All Leadership Challenge videos must be created by individuals.
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Q: How are the entries judged?
A: A judging panel comprised of representatives from the U.S. Navy and the Leadership Challenge partners in each state will review the entries and determine the winner. Judges base their ratings on originality (25%), use of local images/footage (25%), production quality (10%), and clear demonstration of the leadership qualities and effect on the local community of the Hometown Hero profiled in the video (40%).
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Q: How many winners are chosen?
A: One winner will be selected from each of the six states.
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Q: What do winners receive?
A: One winner from each state (and a parent/guardian if contestant/winner is a legal minor) will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to a U.S. Navy base. The trip might include hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge Navy technology, tours of Navy aircraft and ships, and access to some of the Navy’s everyday heroes.
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Q: When will winners be notified?
A: The Leadership Challenge winners will be notified by June 3, 2008. The winners will be announced publicly on June 17, 2008.
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Q: Can entries be disqualified?
A: Entries will be disqualified if they contain vulgar or inappropriate content; are not submitted with the online entry form; or use copyrighted material. No trademarked, copyrighted, or otherwise branded materials, logos, products, etc., may be used without express written permission from the owner, business, and/or organization. This can include logos on T-shirts, trademarked brands on products, etc. If entries contain copyrighted, branded, and/or trademarked materials without proper permission, those entries will be disqualified.
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If you have further questions, please contact the Leadership Challenge at 1.877.302.2008 or leadershipchallenge@navy.com.