Governor Rell has asked the Center for 21st Century Skills to run a separate Governor's Innovation Challenge http://itacademy.org program to get ideas from students for how the State of Connecticut can build a web site that will attract young people to look into career opportunities in Connecticut as they go about considering their college options. It's no secret that most State websites are dull and boring and very few kids ever go to them for information. So, we're thinking that a website designed by students might end up being more attractive to students.

We're looking for teams to self-organize and compete to come up with a "concept" for a web site that we'll unveil at the Connecticut High School Innovation Exposition on May 12th. The winning team will get iPod Videos for all its members, and the 2nd and 3rd place teams will get iPod Nanos and Shuffles

But the big deal is that we'll select the best skills from all the participating students and create a team that will have a chance to work full-time through the summer and get paid for the work to develop the site!

NOTE: STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE TO BE IT LEADERSHIP ACADEMY OR CONNECTICUT INNOVATION CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS TO SIGN UP!

ANY STUDENT IN CONNECTICUT CAN SIGN UP!!

IF YOU'RE PICKED TO WORK ON THE SUMMER DEVELOPMENT TEAM, YOU'LL GET PAID FULL TIME THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. YOU CAN WORK FROM HOME. THERE'S NO NEED TO TRAVEL.

THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY!!!

DON'T MISS IT!!!!

Here's how to participate:

1. Sign up http://itacademy.org ... it's that simple.

2. Once we close out the sign up period on March 31st, you'll be able to self-select your teams from those students who are registered. Teams will consist of 3-5 students per team. We'll also help match up students who need to join a team or find other team members.

(If you already have a team in mind, that's great as long as everyone on your team is signed up! We're also allowing students to work with students from other towns, so if you know anyone in another town who's a great designer, developer or idea person, get them to sign up and pick them to be on your team.)

3. Once your teams are formed, you'll have 4 weeks to put together a concept web site idea for unveiling at the Connecticut High School Innovation Exposition at the Connecticut Convention Center on May 12th in Hartford. Mentors will help you with your concept ideas.

A concept is defined as a combination of:

* A story (a brief whitepaper) about why your concept is an innovative approach for students to learn about 21st century career opportunities and interact with others about which careers will be the most productive to prepare for over the next 20 years.

* A set of static web pages, design images, or animations that help show how your concept would work and why it's an innovative approach.

* An oral (5 minute) presentation to a group of judges at the Connecticut High School Innovation Exposition on May 12th at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

Spread the word. Share this e-mail with your friends or any students who you think would be interested in winning prizes or getting full time summer work! Just go to the IT Leadership Academy http://itacademy.org web site and sign up online.

YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP BY THE END OF THE MONTH.