Embedded Files
We are excited to offer the following competitions. Click on each competition for more information.
We are excited to offer the following competitions. Click on each competition for more information.
October 27, 2025 - Competition Registration and Pre-Conference Material Submission Deadline.
Pre-Conference Material Submissions to be emailed to Ashley Bourke (abourke@murraystate.edu).
Team Competitions are limited to 1 team per school.
Career Exploration Competitions - Choose the appropriate category
Career Exploration Competitions - Choose the appropriate category
Description: This contest allows students the chance to explore careers in education beyond the traditional core subjects of English language arts, math, science, or social studies. Students have the opportunity to shadow and learn from highly skilled educators whose work takes place outside the core subjects. The purpose of this competition is to learn more about education careers through job shadowing and interviewing an educational professional
Competition Type: Individual
Choose one of the following categories
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploring Ed Administration Careers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploring Student Support Services
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploring Non-Core Teaching Careers
Children's Literature Competitions - Choose the appropriate category
Children's Literature Competitions - Choose the appropriate category
Description: Educators Rising students: it’s time to make and share some good art. This is your opportunity to summon your storytelling powers and create original children’s literature. Great literature can be entertaining, educational, inspiring, or illuminating, and while it may be fictional, it speaks to inner truths. Children’s book authors — like educators — help young people to understand these inner truths and to make sense of the world. These competitions offer Educators Rising students the opportunity to try out the identity of an author and an educator.
Competition Type: Individual/Pair
Choose one of the following categories:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Children's Literature K-3 English
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Children's Literature K-3 Spanish
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Children's Literature Pre-K English
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Children's Literature Pre-K Spanish
Lesson Planning and Delievery - Choose the appropriate category
Lesson Planning and Delievery - Choose the appropriate category
Description: Planning, preparing, and delivering effective instruction is the heart of the work of all educators. This competition challenges young educators to plan and deliver a lesson of their choosing to an actual classroom of students. Self-reflection following the lesson is an essential component of this competition; a clear-eyed evaluation of what you’ve done is the best way to learn and make wise choices in the future.
Competition Type: Individual
Choose one of the following categories:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson Planning and Delivery - Arts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson Planning and Delivery - CTE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson Planning and Delivery - Humanities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson Planning and Delivery - STEM
Educators Rising Moment Competition
Educators Rising Moment Competition
Description: The purpose of the Educators Rising Moment Competition is to provide students at the Murray State University Regional Educators Rising Conference the opportunity to articulate why they aim to pursue a career in education.
Competition Type: Individual
Interactive Bulletin Board Contest
Interactive Bulletin Board Contest
Description: When you reflect upon every teacher you’ve had in school so far, you’ll probably notice they use one thing in common: Bulletin boards. A bulletin board is a vertical surface to display visuals that provide information about something. This handy display method is popular with teachers because it can be harnessed to make lessons more engaging, highlight classroom rules and reminders, or even share an occasional inspirational quote. In this contest, Participants must prepare an interactive display board and an oral presentation introducing the display and summarizing how it could be used in a classroom setting to teach a lesson.
Competition Type: Individual/Pair
Job Interview Competition
Job Interview Competition
Description: The Job Interview Competition is an opportunity for Educators Rising members to develop and practice their interview skills, as well as cover letter and résumé writing skills. In this competition, entrants apply for a position as a paraprofessional (a link to the position description can be found below). This includes submitting a cover letter explaining why the entrant is a good candidate for the position, as well as a résumé that details relevant work, volunteer, and educational experiences.
Competition Type: Individual
Public Service Announcement - Teacher Recruitment Competition
Public Service Announcement - Teacher Recruitment Competition
Description: A public service announcement (PSA) is a short informational clip that is meant to raise the audience’s awareness about an important issue. The purpose of the Public Service Announcement-Teacher Recruitment Competition is to allow Educators Rising students to create a NEW public service announcement, appropriate for television and/or social media, to attract young people to consider teaching in their future career goals.
Students will collaboratively problem-solve as they produce a creative, multimedia video clip designed to elevate the image of teaching by communicating the value of the profession. The PSA should evoke strong positive emotions about the profession causing the viewer to consider the worth of the profession as an important career. This competition affords the student an opportunity to sharpen his or her skills as both a leader and a productive team member.
The students must work together to develop a one to two-minute video and a live, 10-minute presentation that would appeal to anyone looking for smart ways to recruit new teachers and to the teacher candidates themselves.
Competition Type: Team
Researching Learning Challenges Competition
Researching Learning Challenges Competition
Description: The purpose of this competition is to work collaboratively to learn more about this specific learning challenge and to produce a research-supported position paper to explain and advocate for positive practices in schools to support the education of students with hearing impairments. Imagine that the local school board has asked you: “What specific steps should we take to support the education of students with hearing impairments? Also, why should we accept your recommendations?"
Competition Type: Chapter Team
Teacher Created Materials Contest
Teacher Created Materials Contest
Description: Teachers know how to bring out the best in their students. They’ve gotten to know each student as an individual, what they enjoy, and whether they learn best through board games, crafts, music, or something else. Therefore, creating your own materials as a teacher is one of the most rewarding challenges of the profession. You get to account for your students’ unique needs while engaging them in a fun activity and achieving learning objectives.
Teacher-created materials encompass all the materials and physical means a teacher might use to implement a lesson and facilitate students' achievement of the objectives. This may include materials such as flip charts, board games, folder games, puppets, lap books, etc. This contest allows you to showcase how you would meet this challenge by creating your own materials for a lesson of your choosing and presenting it to judges.
Competition Type: Individual/Pair
State and national competitions may have additional requirements. See state competition guidelines for details
Report abuse