Overview:
The Illinois Fathers Initiative (IFI) hosts an annual statewide essay contest for students in grades K-12 to share their perspectives on fatherhood and parental involvement. Prior to 2020, students submitted printed essays that were mailed in and manually sorted. A team of volunteers then read through the submissions to select semifinalists and winners.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 required the essay submission and review process to be shifted online. IFI brought on Acme Digital Solutions to digitize the process to allow for remote submissions and judging.
Challenge:
- Previously handled all essay submissions via postal mail in printed format
- Manual sorting and distribution of essays to readers
- Difficulty coordinating remote volunteers during pandemic
- No centralized system for tracking submissions and judging
Solution:
- Created a web form using Ninja Forms for students to submit essays digitally
- Mapped form submissions to automatically sort essays into Google Drive folders by grade level
- Set up shared Drive access for volunteers to easily access assigned essays remotely
- Used Google Sheets to track submissions and scoring in one centralized location
Results:
- Received over 2,700 digital essay submissions in 2020, a 15% increase over previous years
- Reduced judging time by 20% through digitally coordinating readers and accessing essays
- Streamlined contest administration through centralized tracking and organization
- Provided an accessible submission process during remote learning
- Showcased modernized program through online winner announcements
- Set the foundation to scale the contest and number of submissions for future years
The digital transformation enabled the Illinois Fathers Initiative to adapt their long-running essay contest during the pandemic and improve the submission and review process going forward. Geek Empowered provided the right tools and approach to bring this community program into the digital age.