Only a few hours left to Speak Up!

Speak Up closes today! Today is your last chance to take the Speak Up survey! You have until 11:59pm PT tonight to take the survey and pass it on to your friends, family, colleagues, and anyone who wants to make an impact on the future of education! We've had a fantastic survey period this year withover 500,000 surveys submitted so far, so let's keep the momentum going until the last minute of Speak Up! Quick links: ▪ Updated survey counts and participation numbers: Our final update before we close the survey tonight! ▪ Speak Up America: The results are in - see who won our photo/video challenge! ▪ Happy holidays from the Project Tomorrow Team! Our office will be closed through January 4th - have a wonderful break!

Please be sure to take the survey before 11:59pm PT TONIGHT! If you've already taken the survey, spread the word to your network of friends and family! Word of mouth is always the best promotion - help us expand our reach! Click here to take the survey and pass it on. Happy reading! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team

Updated Survey Counts and Participation Survey counts as of December 18th: 501,024 (and counting!) overall surveys taken. Students: 413,958 Teachers: 39,448 Administrators: 4,441 Parents: 36,620 Community Members: 6,557 Top 5 States based on Total Surveys* ▪ Indiana (101,303 surveys) ▪ Texas (76,272 surveys) ▪ Maryland (47,929 surveys) ▪ California (41,568 surveys) ▪ Alabama (34,115 surveys) Top 10 Districts Overall based on total surveys* ▪ Klein ISD, TX ▪ Baltimore County Public Schools, MD ▪ Brevard County School District, FL ▪ Weslaco ISD, TX ▪ El Paso ISD, TX ▪ Fairfax County Public Schools, VA ▪ Shelby County School District, AL ▪ Baltimore City Public School System, MD ▪ Albemarle County Public Schools, VA ▪ Elkhart Community Schools, IN Top 10 Schools Overall based on total surveys* ▪ Klein Oak High School, Klein ISD, TX ▪ Klein Forest High School, Klein ISD, TX ▪ Arrowhead High, Arrowhead UHS School District, WI ▪ San Marcos High School, San Marcos Unified, CA ▪ San Elijo Middle School, San Marcos Unified, CA ▪ Klein Collins High School, Klein ISD, TX ▪ Andress High School, El Paso ISD, TX ▪ Hawthorne High, Centinela Valley Union High School District, CA ▪ Weslaco High School, Weslaco ISD, TX ▪ Albemarle High, Albemarle County Public Schools, VA

*As of December 17, 2015 at 3:30PM PT

Speak Up America Results With 35 #SpeakUpSnapshot and #VoicesofSpeakUp entries this year, it was hard to pick our top five winning submissions! Congratulations to the following schools/districts for winning our 2015 photo/video challenge - and a huge thanks to all of the schools and districts who submitted pictures and videos of their students speaking up! We are also excited to announce the recipients of our Speak Up America Book Giveaway! Thanks to all who submitted their names into our drawing - check out the winners below:

Photo Challenge Winners ▪ Irvington Community Elementary School, IN ▪ Howe Public Schools, OK ▪ Andress High School, El Paso ISD, TX

Video Challenge Winners ▪ Union Intermediate, Sampson County Schools, NC ▪ New Market School, Madison County Schools, AL

Speak Up America Book Giveaway Flip Your Classroom by Bergmann and Sams (donated by Arfstrom Consulting) Winner: Margaret Thompson from Moore County Schools, NC Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam (donated by Arfstrom Consulting) Winner: Lori Oren from Bulloch County Schools, GA Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World by Kathleen Hurley (donated by Girls Thinking Global) Winners: Shannon Bosley from Diocese of Covington, KY and Kelly Berenda from Community Schools of Frankfort, IN

Happy Holidays from the Project Tomorrow Team! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday break and a happy new year! Our office will be closed for the holiday season and will reopen on January 4, 2016. See you in the new year!

Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Speak Up Operations Manager, Jenny Hostert, at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.

Many thanks to our sponsors and partners for the support of Speak Up: Blackboard, Inc., BrainPOP, CDW, DreamBox Learning, Fuel Education, Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Rosetta Stone, Scholastic Education, American Association of School Administrators, Consortium for School Networking, CUE, Digital Learning Day, iNACOL, International Society for Technology in Education, National School Boards Association, National School Public Relations Association, National Science Teachers Association, National Secondary School Principals Association, State Education Technology Directors’ Association and TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association).

TOMORROW is your last chance to take the Speak Up survey!

There is still time to Speak Up and share your thoughts about education! Visit www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015 to take the survey by 11:59pm on Friday, December 18th - all participating districts are eligible to win a free national or regional conference registration!

Once you've submitted your survey, please share the national survey link (www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015) with your friends, students, parents, administrators, community organization members, affiliates, or anyone who has a passion for improving education - we want everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation's schools!

If you would like to share the survey via email or social media page, feel free to use our text below:

Have a voice on educational policy by taking the Speak Up survey! Only takes 15 minutes or less to complete and you are adding invaluable input to key educational issues like the homework gap- kids access to internet, technology in schools, and more! Either take the general public survey (community) or parent survey if you have a kid in grades K-12 www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015

Speak Up Family and Friends: ASTA and SREB

With only THREE days left to Speak Up, we'd like to take a moment and highlight some of our Speak Up family and friends' news and upcoming events! Check out the latest news from our friends at the Arizona Science Teachers Association (ASTA) and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB):

Arizona Science Teachers Association (ASTA)

21st Century STEM: Integrate to Innovate Conference

Phoenix Convention Center

Pre-Conference Field Trips, January 21, 2016

General Conference Sessions, January 22-23, 2016

Registration for Attendees and Exhibitors

All Arizona Pre-K through college educators in all areas of STEM: Science, Math, Engineering, Technology, and CTE are invited to attend ASTA's 2016 conference in Phoenix, AZ! Registration includes: 

• Up to three days of engaging, relevant professional learning for PreK-16 educators, informal educators, business partners, and community leaders in all areas of STEM.
• 12  field trip options on Thursday, January 21, 2016.  Visits include K -12 schools, colleges/universities, a variety of museums, businesses and bio-medical research facilities. 
• Five amazing keynotes from current innovators in STEM education and industry: Hadi Partovi, Code.org; Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos; Jaime Casap, Google Education; Jo Anne Vasquez, Ph.D, Author STEM Essentials; and Dr. Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF. 
• The opportunity to choose from a variety of high-interest sessions to match your role in STEM.
• Unlimited networking opportunities with educators and industry who are actively involved in leading and influencing the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math.
• Access to the exhibit hall featuring the latest STEM products, services, and opportunities from partners in education.

Click here to register

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)

Interested in learning more about equity of access for students without Internet and computer coding? Our friends at SREB hosted two webinars earlier this year related to equity of access! Click here to view the webinars.

Special thanks to ASTA, SREB, and the rest of our Speak Up family and friends who have taken and promoted the Speak Up survey! This Friday is your last chance to Speak Up and make an impact on education policy - visit http://bit.ly/SU15survey to take the survey.

Last call for Speak Up surveys!

Spread the word about the survey with our last minute promotional ideas

With one week to go, there is still plenty of time to get the word out about Speak Up. If you just registered your district or are looking for new ways to promote the survey, try one of these ideas: ▪ ▪ Host a Speak Up Day or week: Pick a day this week to have your K-12 community complete the Speak Up Surveys! ▪ ▪ Focus on one survey type: A focus on teachers, parents and/or administrators is an easy push and a great way to receive a meaningful dataset. We recommend sending an email or phone recording to parents or email blast to your teachers. Click here for a variety of sample emails. ▪ ▪ Highlight the Speak Up survey on your website using one of our Speak Up logos (with a link to the survey). Click here for the code to embed on your website. Make sure to include your survey password! ▪ ▪ Use social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter to get the word out about Speak Up to your stakeholders. Try retweeting one of our @SpeakUpEd tweets or post from our sample tweets at the end of this newsletter. Spread the word! Once you've taken the Speak Up survey, share it with your friends, colleagues, and family members! Simply copy and paste the text below into an email or on one of your social media walls to spread the word - feel free to change the text: Have a voice on educational policy by taking the Speak Up survey! Only takes 15 minutes or less to complete and you are adding invaluable input to key educational issues like the homework gap- kids access to internet, technology in schools, and more! Either take the general public survey (community), educator or parent survey if you have a kid in grades K-12 www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015 Sample Tweets ▪ ▪ Natl surveys for teachers, parents, students & community close this Fri. Don't miss your chance to be heard! bit.ly/SU15survey #edtech ▪ ▪ Are you “Speaking Up” about digital learning this year? Make your voice heard participate in Speak Up 2015 at bit.ly/SU15survey ▪ ▪ Donate 15 min of your time to impact the future of #education! Help shape #edpolicy by taking the #SpeakUpsurvey: bit.ly/SU15survey ▪ ▪ Participate in Speak Up and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning: bit.ly/SU15survey

Speak Up America has been EXTENDED!

We heard you loud and clear last week! Due to multiple requests, we have decided to extend several of our Speak Up America contests and challenges through this week! We understand that many of you plan on participating in Speak Up this week and we wanted to give everyone an equal opportunity to win. Therefore, our national conference and regional conference registration contests, photo and video challenge, and book giveaway have been extended! Check out what's still up for grabs below:

National Conference Registrations

• BbWorld 2016
• CoSN 2016 Annual Conference
• 2016 iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium 
• 2016 ISTE Conference and Expo (only one registration left!)

Regional Conference Registrations

• CETPA
• CUE
• ICE
• NCCE
• NETA

Speak Up America Book Giveaway

• Flip Your Classroom by Bergmann and Sams (donated by Arfstrom Consulting)
• Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam (donated by Arfstrom Consulting)
• Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World by Kathleen Hurley (donated by Girls Thinking Global)

Speak Up America Photo and Video Challenge

• Extended through Wednesday, December 16th with results announced by the end of the week!
• Click here to review the challenge rules 
• Click here to view our current list of #SpeakUpSnapshot entries!

Need some last minute promotional ideas for the last week of Speak Up? Click here to download some of our sample emails and ideas!

Speak Up 2015 Snapshots for School Communications

Communication Officers and Community Member Preliminary Data Snapshot

This is a special release of the preliminary data findings from Speak Up 2015 (data collected from October 1 – December 4th from 182 Communication Officers and 4,070 Community Officers nationwide). The final data results will be published in a series of national reports in spring 2015.

Do you want a chance to win a $225 classroom or school grant? Participate in Speak Up, before it closes on Friday, December 19^th! Then take a photo using the Speak Up America badge showing your classroom or school participation for a chance to win a $225 classroom grant! Learn more about this great opportunity here: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakupamerica.html#challenge.  

Take the survey at: http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015/. Now is the time to Speak Up about education – be sure to participate before Friday, December 18th.

Speak Up 2015 Snapshots for Science Teacher

Science Teacher Preliminary Data Snapshot

This is a special release of the preliminary data findings from Speak Up 2015 (data collected from October 1 – December 4th from 1,689 Science Teachers nationwide). The final data results will be published in a series of national reports in spring 2015.

The Speak Up survey is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts about education. If you are not a student, educator, administrator or parent but would like to take the survey, please take our community members survey. Feel free to share the survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) with anyone who may be interested as well!

2015 Preliminary Data Student Snapshot

Check out our third preliminary data snapshot of the week from this year's Speak Up survey! This one is on middle school student data pulled from 80,501 student surveys as of 12/4/15.




If you have not already, please take a moment to complete the Speak Up Survey as today is National Speak Up Day!

By giving 15 minutes of your time to Speak Up Day, you can make sure your voice is heard loud and clear from classrooms to the halls of Congress, from state capitols to boardrooms.  Ensure that policymakers are making those important program and funding decisions based upon real data from real education stakeholders – you!   

To “Speak Up,” simply visit http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015 to take the survey by Dec. 18^th!

We would like everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation’s schools.  So, please share this link with your friends, students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizations, members, affiliates or anyone who has a passion for improving education and ask them to take the Speak Up survey TODAY. 

Teacher Preliminary Data Snapshot

This is a special release of the preliminary data findings from Speak Up 2015 (data collected from October 1 – December 4th from 24,622 teachers nationwide). The final data results will be published in a series of national reports in spring 2015.

The Speak Up survey is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts about education. If you are not a student, educator, administrator or parent but would like to take the survey, please take our community members survey. Feel free to share the survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) with anyone who may be interested as well!

Parent Snapshot 2015

Check out our first preliminary data snapshot of the week from this year's Speak Up survey! This one is on parent data based on 20,417 surveys pulled on December 4th.

The Speak Up survey is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts about education. If you are not a student, educator, administrator or parent but would like to take the survey, please take our community members survey. Feel free to share the survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) with anyone who may be interested as well!

Speak Up America is here!

Happy Speak Up America week and countdown to the finale of Speak Up! This year's survey has been a great success, with over 325,000 surveys already submitted. To celebrate this superb survey period, we've launched our Speak Up America weeklong event (December 7th - 11th). Now in its third year, Speak Up America plans to celebrate past and present participants with opportunities to win classroom grants, free national and regional conference registrations, and more - participating in our Speak Up America campaign is a great way to end this year's survey period on a high note! Keep reading to learn more. In this blog post: ▪ Last Minute Outreach: Try one of our promotional ideas to make the most out of the last two weeks of Speak Up. ▪ National Speak Up Day: Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 9th! ▪ Classroom/School Grant Photo and Video Challenge with 5 chances to win! ▪ Free National Conference Registrations to the 2016 BbWorld, CoSN, iNACOL, and ISTE Conferences! ▪ Free Regional Conference Registrations to CUE, NCCE, NETA, and TCEA. ▪ Speak Up America Book Giveaway: Submit your name and take the survey for a chance to win 1 of 3 books! ▪ Speak Up 2015 Preliminary Data Snapshots released daily!

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team

Last Minute Outreach Ideas Kick your promotion into high gear with our last minute ideas! With less than 2 weeks to go there is still plenty of time to get the word out about Speak Up. If you just registered your district or are looking for new ways to promote the survey, try one of these ideas: ▪ Host a Speak Up Day or week ▪ Focus on one survey type ▪ Get your community involved in Speak Up America week ▪ Highlight the Speak Up survey on your website using one of our Speak Up logos (with a link to the survey).

Click here to view our full list of last minute outreach emails and promotional ideas.

National Speak Up Day Wednesday, December 9th The highlight of the Speak Up America 2015 Campaign will take place this Wednesday, December 9, 2015 with National Speak Up Day! National Speak Up Day is the day to encourage your community to participate. We would like everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation’s schools, so please share this link http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2015 with your students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizations, members, affiliates or anyone who has a passion for improving education and ask them to take the Speak Up survey. The Speak Up survey is open to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts about education. If you are not a student, educator, administrator or parent but would like to take the survey, please take our community members survey. Feel free to share the survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) with anyone who may be interested as well!

Photo and Video Challenge Educators, win a grant for your classroom or school just by having your students participate in Speak Up! Planning to have your class or school participate in Speak Up this week? Already had your class or school participate? Need a little incentive to get your class or school to participate? Submit your photos and videos to our Speak Up for America Photo and Video Challenge - we've already had a few entries submitted, so start sending in your photos and videos! Photo Challenge Hashtag: #SpeakUpSnapshot To celebrate technology and all our wonderful Speak Up participants, we will be offering $225 grants to three lucky Speak Up participating classroom or school during the week of December 7th. All you need to do is take a picture with the Speak Up for America 2015 Badge (above) highlighting your Speak Up experience and upload to one of our social media sites or the photo challenge page. Contest is open now, so get your cameras out and shoot a photo showing you and your students Speaking Up! For contest rules please visit our photo challenge page here. Video Challenge Hashtag: #VoicesofSpeakUp Last year, we heard you loud and clear with multiple #speakupsnapshotssubmitted to the 2nd annual Speak Up America photo challenge. Now in our third year of Speak Up America, we want to see you and your class “Speaking Up” in action! In our social media video challenge, Project Tomorrow wants to know: "Why is using digital tools for learning important for your (students’) future?” All you need to do is create a short 15-30 second video answering the question above. Use this opportunity to get your class involved by making this into a class project. Submissions can come in the form of videos, animations (PowToon), slideshows, voice snippets and more! The more creative the better! In this challenge, there will be 2 grant opportunities to win $225! Never has your chance of earning a classroom grant been easier. Enter your#VoicesofSpeakUp video into the Speak Up America video challenge today! Learn more about the video challenge contest rules here.

Free National Conference Registrations We are excited to announce chances to win free conference registrations toBbWorld 2016, the 2016 Annual CoSN Conference, the 2016 iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium, and the International Society for Technology in Education 2016 Conference and Expo! One lucky district will be chosen for each free registration, and two will be chosen for ISTE 2016. Winning is easy – just follow the instructions below to enter your district into our competition: 1. Get in any last minute surveys! Any survey that comes in during Speak Up America 2015 campaign beginning Monday December 7, 2015 through Friday December 11, 2015 (in addition to surveys already submitted earlier in the survey period) will be entered into the competition. Increase your chances to win! 2. Encourage participation in National Speak Up Day (12-9-15)! Every survey submitted on this date will be entered into a separate drawing for a free ISTE 2016 Conference & Expo registration.

Free Regional Conference Registrations to CETPA, CUE, NCCE, NETA and TCEA. Are you a California, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas or Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington) district? You're in luck - the awesome folks at CETPA, CUE, NCCE, NETA, and TCEA are also offering free conference registrations! Winning is as easy as speaking up! All you need to do is encourage your staff, students, their parents and the local community to participate in Speak Up. Every participant from your district will enter you in to the drawing to win – the more surveys you have in the more chances you have to win! One winner will be selected for the NETA, NCCE, and TCEA conferences, and three for the CUE conference. We will randomly select a survey from your state and announce the winners on Friday, December 11th at 5PM PT/7PM CT/8PM ET.

Speak Up America Book Giveaway Submit your name and take the survey for a chance to win 1 of 3 books! Thanks to our wonderful friends at Arfstrom Consulting and Girls Thinking Global, we're hosting a special book giveaway this week! All participating parents, educators, and community members are eligible to enter the giveaway – all you’ll need to do is take the Speak Up survey (http://bit.ly/SU15survey) and enter your information into the webforms below. Once you hit the submit button, you’ll be entered into the giveaway for the book of your choice! Feel free to submit your name for each book. Click on the book title to submit your entry: ▪ Flip Your Classroom by Bergmann and Sams (donated by Arfstrom Consulting) ▪ Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam (donated byArfstrom Consulting) ▪ Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World by Kathleen Hurley (donated by Girls Thinking Global)

Thanks again to Arfstrom Consulting and Girls Thinking Global for their donations!

Daily Speak Up 2015 Preliminary data snapshots Click here to visit our Speak Up 2015 preliminary data snapshot page During Speak Up America Week, we'll pull a special snapshot of preliminary data for students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members. Each day we will release a special video infographic on NEW Speak Up findings. Check below to see when we will be releasing each snapshot of data: ▪ Monday, December 7, 2015 —Teachers ▪ Tuesday, December 8, 2015 —Parents ▪ Wednesday, December 9, 2015 —Students ▪ Thursday, December 10, 2015 —Librarians ▪ Friday, December 11, 2015 — Principals

We will also be releasing preliminary data reports to all participating schools and districts during Speak Up America week! Stay tuned for more details.

Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Speak Up Operations Manager, Jenny Hostert, at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at (949) 609-4660 ext. 17.

Many thanks to our sponsors and partners for the support of Speak Up: Blackboard, Inc., BrainPOP, CDW, DreamBox Learning, Fuel Education, Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Rosetta Stone, Scholastic Education, American Association of School Administrators, Consortium for School Networking, CUE, Digital Learning Day, iNACOL, International Society for Technology in Education, National School Boards Association, National School Public Relations Association, National Science Teachers Association, National Secondary School Principals Association, State Education Technology Directors’ Association and TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association).