Project POTUS National Competition for Students Begins Presidents Day
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site announces the launch of the 2nd annual Project POTUS, an opportunity for students in grades 6th-8th across the nation to competitively put their research, writing and video editing skills to the test.
Since the founding of our nation, there have been nearly half a billion American citizens, but only 45 people have been elected to the presidency. Project POTUS challenges middle school students nationally to consider what makes the American presidents exceptional - good, bad, or otherwise - and find out what exactly we can learn from them.
Starting Presidents Day 2023, middle school students can submit a video representing a POTUS of their choice for the chance to win awards ranging from $100-500. The challenge? All videos must be 60 seconds or less. Projects should be grounded in history research, but students should get creative and look to past winners for inspiration, available for viewing at ProjectPOTUS.org. 2022 award winners included documentary style projects using historic film, animation, cartooning, original songs, and even presidential impersonation.
The last day to submit a video is April 18, 2023. The Project POTUS Citizen Jury, a national panel of presidential history buffs, will evaluate projects. One video per POTUS will be awarded a $100 Presidential Award. One Grand Prize winner will earn an award of $500, while 3 projects will earn the Spotlight Award and a $400 prize. For the first time in 2023, the public will have the chance to elect a Citizens Choice Award winner, who will receive an additional award of $250.
The ability of Project POTUS to highlight underknown presidents was made surprisingly clear when the 2022 grand prize winner emerged: a project on Millard Fillmore, the 13th President, from a student at Indiana's Batchelor Middle School. Project POTUS is designed to encourage fun peer-to-peer learning about American history through short-form video trends embraced by the next generation and popularized by TikTok and Reels.
The conclusion of Project POTUS 2023 will see the inaugural 46 in 45: 46 Presidential Administrations in 45 Minutes, an enthusiastic summary of the American Presidency as taught by middle schoolers, to be released May 19. To learn more visit ProjectPOTUS.org.
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