I'm a Safe Boater, Are You?

National Safe Boating Council 2008 Boating Safety Sidekicks Contest

Oct 23, 2007 Alan Sorum

The National Safe Boating Council encourages children to tell and show us how to be safer boaters by entering the 2008 Boating Safety Sidekicks Contest

Narrative, artwork, photographic and videographic entries from children are being accepted in the third annual 2008 Boating Safety Sidekicks Contest. Children ranging from ages four to fifteen years will have the chance to ask the question, "I'm a Safe Boater, Are You?" First place finishers from three age categories will receive awards from contest sponsors West Marine, Within Reach and Mustang Survival Systems. Potential contestants can view last year's winners at the Boating Safety Sidekicks website.

About Sidekicks - Ted and Linda Walke are the creative force behind the colorful Boating Safety Sidekick webpage billed as a "Safe Boating Kidsite." Using characters and a storyline they first developed in 1999 for an activity book commissioned by the National Boating Safety Council, this very successful boating safety project grew into a series of books that have been distributed to more than four million children and development of the interactive website. It is worth taking a trip through the Sidekick's website to see everything the Walkes have created to improve children's safety on the water.

Age Groups for the 2008 Boating Safety Sidekicks Contest:

  • 4 through 7 years of age
  • 8 through 11 years of age
  • 12 through 15 years of age

Entry Standards - Contestants are required to submit their entries according to the following standards as established by the National Safe Boating Council:

  1. Stories can tell about a particular boating experience involving safety or it can convey the reasons why you’re a safe boater and what safe boating practices you and/or your family follow. Stories must include life jacket wear. Stories must be a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 750 words in length. Your story can be handwritten, printed by computer, or emailed to us. Awards will be based on good grammar, writing style, composition, safety message, and the story told.
  2. Posters should contain a simple, brief message that encourages and inspires others to be safe boaters. Posters must include and show life jacket wear. Submissions must measure 8.5 inches by 11 inches or 11 inches by 14 inches. The longest measurement can be either wide or high. Computer-generated submissions must be provided as one jpg, tiff, or eps file (type fonts must be converted to outlines). All submissions must be mailed to the address provided. Do not email your poster submission. Awards will be based on design, composition, style, safety message, color impact and usage, and quality of artwork and/or photography.
  3. Videos - Short videos can be very serious or contain some humor to make a point about boating safety. Videos must include and show life jacket wear. Submissions must range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length and submitted as Quicktime movie (mpeg) files on CD or DVD or they can be submitted as miniDV or VCR tapes. Videos must be mailed to the address provided. Do not email your video submission. Awards will be based on design, video editing, style, safety message, and quality of artwork and/or videography.

Judging and Awards - Once a panel of boating safety educators and media specialists selected by the National Safe Boating Council judge and select the winning entries, successful participants will have their work posted on the Boating Safety Sidekicks website. The Council has taken steps to ensure the on-line privacy of contestants by only posting the first name, age, and home state for each winner. Parents will need to provide consent to use a child's full in printed literature.

Sponsorship and Contest Deadline - Sponsors of the contest include the Within Reach Inc., West Marine Inc., and Mustang Survival Systems who are all members of the National Safe Boating Council and Council itself. The deadline for the contest is June 1, 2008, so there is plenty of time to prepare an entry and post it to the Boating Safety Sidekicks Contest. Mailed submissions must be postmarked by this date.

The copyright of the article I'm a Safe Boater, Are You? in Boating & Sailing is owned by Alan Sorum. Permission to republish I'm a Safe Boater, Are You? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
2008 Contest Banner, NSBC 2008 Contest Banner
   
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