How Judging Works
Unlike their sprint around Nationals Park, this challenge will not leave a single president behind! The goal of judging is to select five projects to be made into films—one for each of the five Racing Presidents. This way we avoid making two films about the same president.
In other words, the five winners will be the individuals or groups that submit the top project for each Racing President: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Taft.
Upon submission, your project will enter two phases of judging.
First Round
In the first round, your project will be scored by historians and educators from the White House Historical Association. They will assess your project and assign a number score based on the rubric below. Remember, incomplete projects will be automatically disqualified. Top projects for each of the five Racing Presidents will be sent on for consideration in the final round.
Final Round
If your project advances to the final round, it will be reviewed by a panel of esteemed judges. Using the same rubric as below, the judges will assess your project and assign their own rating. Their scores will be added together to determine a final number, or “total score.” The highest-scoring projects for each of the five Racing Presidents will be the winners!
In the case of a tie (for example, two Lincoln projects achieve the same score), the judges will be asked to make a subjective ranking based on overall project quality, the practicability of making the project into a film, and their own assessment of the film’s appeal to the crowds attending a Washington Nationals baseball game.
All judging decisions are final.
