Another Statistics in Schools Sweepstakes: Your School Can Win $500

Kentucky Youth Advocates is excited to announce our second Statistics in Schools Sweepstakes, a free and easy way for Kentucky teachers to help their school win $500 by using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) materials during the Bureau’s SIS Week (March 2-6, 2020). Four $500 checks will be given to winning schools – one for a Preschool/Kindergarten program, one for grades 1-5, one for grades 6-8, and one for grades 9-12. An additional $500 prize will be awarded to a Jefferson County public school that utilizes the Bureau’s ELL materials.

Did you know that the 2020 census is only a couple of months away? It is critical we get ALL children counted so our communities and schools get their fair share of funding to serve children. We know children can be very persuasive with parents, so let’s get them excited about getting counted in the 2020 census! The Statistics in Schools Sweepstakes is an incentive for teachers to raise student awareness of the importance of an accurate census count and is perfectly timed to turn students into census advocates within their household – Statistics in Schools Week (March 2-6, 2020) is one week before most households receive their first 2020 census invite in the mail.

How will my school and students benefit?

Your school comes out a winner even if you don’t receive $500! Educating students on the importance of counting everyone during the 2020 census will help remedy the persistent undercount of children and ensure your school gets its fair share of federal funding. That’s because annual allocations for a number of federal programs important to schools – Title I and Special Education Grants, Head Start, School Lunch and Breakfast Programs – are calculated based on census-derived data. If students in your community are missed in the 2020 census your school will miss out on federal funds – a mistake that can’t be corrected for 10 years.

In addition to impacting the amount of federal funds received by schools in your community, there are a number of benefits of using Statistics in Schools for teachers and the materials prepare students for a data-driven world. Better yet, hear directly from educators who have used the materials in their classrooms in the video below.

Why these materials?

The Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools materials are designed by teachers to engage students Pre-K through grade 12 with census statistics in a variety of classroom subjects (English, math, history, geography, sociology, and more). The materials are aligned with education standards and guidelines and easy to use within existing lesson plans. There are dozens of activities, including videos and maps.

How can teachers increase their school’s chance of winning?

Participating in the Statistics in School Sweepstakes is easy! The more teachers in your school that participate, the better your school’s chance of winning. Start planning now how your classroom will use the materials during SIS Week (March 2-6). During SIS Week, take pictures or video showing how students in the classroom are using the materials.

At the end of SIS Week, teachers can submit images and a description of your classes’ activities through an entry form on this page. The entry form portal will remain open until March 12^th so teachers have plenty of time to enter their submissions. By March 16^th, Kentucky Youth Advocates will randomly pick teacher submissions and announce the schools receiving a $500 check.