US Navy Leadership Challenge to Students: "Who's Your Hometown Hero?"

US Navy Leadership Challeng Asks New England Students: "Who's Your Hometown Hero?"

YouTube-based video essay competition offers area high schoolers the chance to win two days on a Navy installation.

BOSTON, MA - The U.S. Navy Leadership Challenge invites New England high school students to use their creativity
to produce a short film about their Hometown Hero. The Challenge is sponsored by the U.S. Navy, in partnership with the Wright Museum of World War II History (Wolfeboro, NH), Big Y Foods (Springfield, MA), Market Basket
(Tewksbury, MA), the Manchester City Library (Manchester, NH), and other New England businesses, nonprofits and community groups.

By encouraging local students in six states - Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont -- to learn more about leaders in their community, the Leadership Challenge hopes to inspire area youth to “Do Great Things.”

Students between the ages of 15 and 18 can log on to the Challenge Web site (www.navy.com/leadershipchallenge) to submit a one- to three-minute video profiling someone they think personifies leadership and community involvement and serves as a role model for kids in their community.

Entries are due by May 15, 2008, and the winner will be announced on June 10, 2008.

“The Challenge offers New England students an opportunity to get creative and demonstrate what they think it takes to be a hero. By shining the spotlight on an unsung leader, students can learn that even the smallest acts of leadership can make a big difference in the world,” said Rear Admiral Robin R. Braun, Leadership Challenge spokesperson.

“The Challenge offers New England students an opportunity to get creative and demonstrate what they think it takes to be a hero. By shining the spotlight on an unsung leader, students can learn that even the smallest acts of leadership can make a big difference in the world,” said Rear Admiral Robin R. Braun, Leadership Challenge spokesperson.

One student in each New England state and his/her parent or legal guardian will win a two-day, all-expenses-paid trip to a Navy installation on the East Coast. During the June 2008 trip, winners might view hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge U.S. Navy technology, tour Navy aircraft and ships, and have one-on-one discussions with U.S. Navy personnel.

Of the six winning videos, the video with the highest YouTube user ranking will receive an additional award: the People’s Choice Award. This award will be a plaque given during the Winners’ Trip awards dinner.

To enter the Challenge, contestants must upload their submission to the Navy Leadership Challenge YouTube Group, www.youtube.com/group/LeadershipChallenge, then fill out and submit the online entry form at www.navy.com/leadershipchallenge. All contest submissions can be viewed on the YouTube page.

For additional U.S. Navy Leadership Challenge information and contest rules, please visit: www.navy.com/leadershipchallenge.  To coordinate an interview or for other inquiries, contact Rachel Nathan at RNathan@GolinHarris.com or call 703.741.7505 for prompt assistance.

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Contest is open to legal residents of CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT between 15 and 18 years of age by 04/07/08. Contest begins 12:01 a.m. ET 04/07/08, ends 11:59 p.m. ET 05/15/08. Void outside the states listed and where prohibited. For complete details, see the Official Rules, which govern, at www.navy.com/leadershipchallenge.