This page includes a registration form and information on the national Build Your Own Campaign contest, a PBS Online learning adventure. This contest will invite teams of high school students to participate in a virtual campaign for the Presidency of the United States.
Students can register here to participate.
During the course of this seven-week contest, students will learn the intricacies of running a sustained, focused presidential campaign for a fictional candidate. Along the way, students will investigate the history of the presidential office and the duties of a President. They will develop a platform for their candidate, learn to negotiate the demands of the media, the needs of their constituency, and the need to form relationships with their chosen party, political action committees, special interest groups, and non-profit organizations. Students will also learn how campaign officials conduct polls and surveys, how they analyze results, and how they modify their campaigns accordingly. Each individual team will be responsible for posting its campaign on the World Wide Web, where it will be judged by a panel of teachers, education specialists, and political consultants.