Enter to Win $100K in K12 Bold Ideas Contest

Schneider Electric is excited to announce our inaugural national K12 Bold Ideas Contest. We’re challenging school districts across the United States to submit their boldest, most innovative ideas for district-wide transformation and modernization. The winner will receive up to $100,000 to help support their bold idea.

Read on to learn more about the contest and get answers to the following questions:

• What Exactly Is a Bold Idea?
• How Can School Districts Come Up with Ideas?
• What Does Schneider Electric Have to Do with K12 Schools?

What Exactly is a Bold Idea?

The beauty of this contest is that there’s no wrong answer for what a bold idea is to you. It could be new books for your library, a floating classroom on the moon or literally anything in between.

We intentionally aren’t going further than this in defining bold ideas because we want to hear from you. It’s your bold vision that we want to capture. Having said that, we definitely have some ideas to help transform your district.

Don’t hold back on sharing what innovation means for your district and what bold ideas could help you achieve your vision.

And since we’re asking you for your bold ideas, it’s only fair that we share what our bold ideas are at Schneider Electric. Our entire global organization is focused on the generational task of solving our current energy paradox. We’re working to determine how we improve global sustainability and reduce carbon footprints, while also providing the irrefutable human right to have access to energy. We’re challenging ourselves to rethink the future with this overarching bold vision. And such a bold vision requires bold ideas that are tangible and applicable today.

Ready to submit your bold idea now?
Visit http://sees.co/K12contest and submit your idea! 

How Can School Districts Come Up with Ideas?

There are as many ways to ideate bold ideas as there are bold ideas to be ideated. We want to share a few jumping off points to help you and your district get the wheels turning to identify some unique district-wide innovations:

• Formalize the dreams of the community. Your bold idea could simply be a known dream that you just haven’t been able to fund before now. Think about shared dreams of students, parents, faculty and staff. What’s something the community at large would rejoice in achieving? Pull out that wish list and submit your favorites.
• Start with key challenges. Districts across the nation are facing increasing student populations, funding challenges and facilities in desperate need of modernization. These challenges could be a great starting point to find your bold vision. Consider ways to modernize classrooms, upgrade technology and expand student engagement.
• Tap into district faculty and staff: It’s a safe bet that teachers and administrators daydream about ideas that would make their lives in school easier or their impact greater. These daydreams are exactly what you want to tap into when ideating your bold idea for the contest. Keep in mind that your district can submit unlimited bold ideas.

Regardless of how you ideate, be sure to take advantage of our unlimited submissions so that voices across your district can be heard. You’ve got until May 15, 2019 to submit your ideas.

What Does Schneider Electric Have to Do with K12 Schools?

We’ve introduced the K12 Bold Ideas Contest, explained what Bold Ideas mean to us and provided some recommendations for finding your own bold ideas. But perhaps the question remains: Why is an energy management company running a contest for K12 school districts?

Schneider Electric has over twenty years of experience helping school districts successfully advance their goals through energy and infrastructure improvement projects. We’ve partnered with more than 600 districts across the nation to uncover energy and operational savings that can be reinvested to modernize facilities, upgrade technology, build brand reputation and unlock additional funding.

You can visit our blog to see many of our K12 success stories and find inspiration for your own bold idea. And if you’re interested in a deep dive on how exactly we enable K12 school districts to achieve their visions, hear Madison County describe the transformational story that got them from debt limit to national recognition. This conversation includes 30-40 minutes of presentation as well as informative questions about funding and other facilities improvements.

Watch it now: http://hub.resourceadvisor.com/performance-contracting/how-to-unlock-millions-in-your-budget-and-create-an-award-winning-district      

And of course, don’t wait to start submitting your Bold Ideas for a chance at the $100,000 prize!