Arizona FORGE, the Dean of Students Office, and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health present the #BearDownMaskUp Challenge: a 4-week competition challenging students to come up with creative solutions to encourage fellow students to mask up and socially distance, and follow prevention guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Entries will be judged on creativity, advocacy of public health best practices, and feasibility (winning solutions must be produced and ready for publication/distribution in 3 weeks).
This challenge is made possible with support from Provost Liesl Folks and SVPRI Betsy Cantwell.
Challenge Timeline:
| DATE: | DESCRIPTION: |
|---|---|
| Oct. 1-5 | Entry window, closes at 11:59pm Monday |
| Oct. 6 | Judging |
| Oct. 7 | Winners announced, work begins on producing solutions |
| Oct. 7-30 | Development of winning projects; supported by FORGE staff and guest mentors |
| Nov. 2 | Final products unveiled and rolled out. |
| Nov. 19 | Challenge Debrief |
| Dec. 10 | Present winning ideas at FORGE x Design |
Winners:
We had so many great ideas, the judges couldn’t decide on just three. The following four submissions have been selected to receive a $500 bursar credit and support to develop the project in the next three weeks:
- Wildcats Indoors but Not Bored: a map of outdoor areas on campus for students to gather while safely socially distancing paired with a 14 Day Isolation Challenge with 14 activities to keep students in isolation busy and connected to their community. Submitted by Genesis Buckhalter-Horne.
- University Pen Pals: a program aimed to keep students connected via letters, email and zoom calls; eliminating the need for students to go out to find friends. Submitted by Christina Calden.
- Bear Down Scavenger Hunt: a weekly Instagram challenge for students to find a different location on campus and post a photo of themselves there with a mask on. This gives students a way to stay active, wear masks, and have fun! Submitted by Grace Gousman.
- #WhoDoYouMask4: a social media campaign, in collaboration with the Arizona Medical Association Medical Student Section, to challenge participants to post a photo on social media of them wearing a mask with a sign reading “#IWearAMask4[Blank]” showing who they are protecting by wearing their masks. Participants will then challenge friends to also participate, creating a sustainable chain of posts to promote mask wearing behavior on campus and in the greater Tucson community. Submitted by a team of medical students: Tina Samsamshariat, Fathima Haseefa, Pareena Kaur, and Spencer Bayless.
The judges recognized the following submissions for their creativity with a $100 Honorable Mention:
- An update to the Covid Watch app to allow users to opt into a scoring/reward system to not only encourage social distancing but track and rewards students for doing so based on location and other data. Submitted by Nimet Bozdag.
- A data-informed website and email campaign to ask students what prevents them from wearing masks and confronts the concerns head on. Submitted by Ahana Singh.
Finally, the FORGE Entrepreneur Award, recognizing entrepreneurial mindset and business model feasibility, which includes a $250 cash prize plus an hour of mentorship from the FORGE Director is awarded to:
- A pop-up shop to sell masks and accessories, like lanyards, necklaces, and clips, to always keep your mask close and have a mask for every occasion. Submitted by Lexi Tuttle.