BLUE JEAN CHALLENGE/GALA
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Blue Jean Challenge (BJC)© is a youth leadership and community development opportunity for students entering the 8th, 9th and 10th grades in communities of color with lower socioeconomic status.
First, focusing on self-awareness, these ambassadors learn to identify and appropriately apply their voice through advocacy while serving their social cause of choice. These Advocacy Ambassadors go on to bring exposure and awareness to local partners of the social impact community, not only learning to apply themselves, their gifts and skill sets in their local community, but earning student service learning hours in the process. They gain necessary life skills such as time management, interpersonal communication, teamwork, problem solving, work ethic, attention to detail and creativity. Other skills include administration, marketing, customer service, writing, design, computer, and presentation skills.
These strategic partnerships forged by our BJC Advocacy Ambassadors with local non-profit, corporate and community leaders bring mutual benefit to our students and communities while promoting college and career readiness fostering valuable social responsibility.
Through their talents, skill sets and innovation, these gifted youth matriculate through three (3) rounds of creative application of their newfound skills in hopes of competing in our Blue Jean Challenge Finale, a pageant-style competition, in hopes of becoming our “BJC Advocate of the Year”!
The Blue Jean Challenge is planned to begin in late September with wrapping up just in time for the holidays at the end of November! The Blue Jean Competition will take place at our annual gala held on the third Saturday in December!
The BJC Advocate of the Year will start his or her success tour the third Monday in January with a day of service and serve in this position until the following year’s BJC Advocate of the Year is announced!
Eligible students meeting grade requirements from public middle and high schools, academies and Montessori schools, special centers and charter schools may apply to compete in Round One of the Challenge.
ROUND ONE CHALLENGE
Each student completing our introductory workshop and advocacy training will receive his or her page on our website to bring attention to their participation in the BJC and soliciting sponsorship support from their circle of influence. The students accumulating the most sponsorship support in the time frame allotted will fulfill their eligibility requirement to move on to Round Two of the Challenge.
ROUND TWO CHALLENGE
In this round of the challenge, participants are exposed to and select a social cause they would like to address. This must be a cause for which the student deems important and has a passion to serve. We, then, support students in engaging with an organization of choice that addresses this cause to complete community service learning hours. The students accumulating the most community learning service hours in the time frame allotted will fulfill their eligibility requirement to move on to Round Three of the Challenge.
ROUND THREE CHALLENGE
Each year, Artistic Empowerment Centers chooses a corporate cause to support and expose the work of. Students advancing to Round Three will work together with the Artistic Empowerment Centers family to learn about this organization, discover how to utilize their gifts, talents and skill sets for the advancement of this cause and work with AEC to support this organization’s greatest needs through acquisition or project management, design and implementation solutions.
QUALIFYING FOR THE COMPETITION
Participants will prepare a creative presentation they submit for final evaluation. In this presentation, elements of their self-awareness journey in Round One, community service learning about their chosen cause in Round Two and social responsibility collaboration work with AEC in Round Three determine the top twelve (12) contestants to advance to the Blue Jean Competition!
BLUE JEAN CHALLENGE/GALA FINALE
Contestants having satisfied requirements of Rounds One through Three to include their creative presentation will participate in a pageant-style exhibition of themselves and their service. Contestants compete in the typical areas of conducting an onstage interview, answering an impromptu current event question, and, of course, presenting a talent. However, there's a bit of a twist. Instead of modeling swimsuits, a photograph of their one-of-a-kind denim design is displayed while they model this unique Blue Jean original sporting their cause. As they walk the runway, their compelling essay about their chosen cause and its effect on them is read aloud.
BJC AMBASSADOR OF ADVOCACY
This exceptional young leader is afforded our AEC BJC S. W. A. G. Bag with several useful resources and gifts including a financial award to utilize upon graduation of high school toward entrepreneurial pursuits as well as higher learning opportunities. This fortunate young leader in winning our Blue Jean Challenge, personal exposure opportunities throughout the year! Examples of these valuable opportunities are “day-in-the-life” walk-alongs with local elected officials, one-on-one luncheons with local celebrities, mentorship by business leaders and acknowledgements by prominent community leaders!
EVERYONE'S A WINNER!
Not everyone can become our BJC Ambassador of Advocacy; however, everyone will receive something to acknowledge their hard work! Four of the remaining contestants will receive such awards as the:
- Aiming Ambassador Award
- Mr. or Ms. Hospitality Award
- People’s Pick Award
- Director’s Award
Key Sponsor
viaJ entertainment services, L LC. was established in 1993 to serve as a tool for professional development in creative, corporate and governmental settings.