Eligibility

Designed with youth grades 5 through 9 in mind, the Good Citizen Challenge is open to all Vermont K-12 students.

All players must be registered on the website by an adult team leader. Teams can be comprised of one or more players.

Setting Up a Team

To get started, the adult team leader goes to the Register Page and inputs required info, including the team name. After registering a team, the adult team leader adds players via their Team Roster page, choosing a screen name for each player.

Once players are added, the Challenge app will generate one Team Code (team name + 3 digits) and individual Citizen Code (screen name + 3 digits) for each player. This is essentially the player’s auto-assigned user name and password for the Challenge. Team leaders should distribute these codes to their players.

Please note that:

• • Team names, screen names, team codes and citizen codes cannot be changed.
  • Also, if players are removed from a team after they’ve earned points and badges, the points will also be removed. Points are not transferable.
  • Once players have their team code and citizen codes, they begin earning points. But all teams must be manually approved by the Challenge Master before they’re visible on the Leaderboard.

Taking the Challenge

Using the codes mentioned above, players sign in to the Challenge website where they can take quizzes or submit evidence of completed activities to earn points and badges.

On the My Progress page, players can view their point totals and badges. They can also see their team score, and how their teammates and other players are progressing.

The Challenge is designed around five civics-oriented categories: History, Government, News Literacy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. All players are required to complete the quiz and at least one activity associated with each category to become a Good Citizen.

Points and Badges

Finishing a quiz with all answers correct earns the player 20 points and a category badge.

When players have completed all 5 required quizzes, they will have earned 100 points and 5 badges.

Completing any activity will earn you points toward the 251 goal, but some extra-challenging activities will earn you badges on their own:

1. Attending a local government meeting.
2. Organizing a bridge-building event.
3. Completing any 50-point activity.

In addition, the Challenge Master may give out extra-credit badges for outstanding effort.

Completing the Challenge

Players complete the Challenge by racking up more than 251 points — the number of towns in Vermont — by March 6, 2020. Those who finish will receive a Good Citizen medal and other prizes and will be invited to meet with elected officials who will recognize their achievements. The first 100 finishers will also receive a Good Citizen T-shirt.