The ACT-SO Team

NATIONAL DIRECTOR

The NAACP National ACT-SO Director is responsible for establishing and facilitating local competition and coordinating national ACT-SO competitions. For information contact the National ACT-SO Director.

NAACP National Headquarters, ACT-SO
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-3297
Phone: (410) 358-8900
Fax: (410) 764-7357

LOCAL ACT-SO COMMITTEE

The local NAACP ACT-SO Committee is responsible for conducting the local competitions. The local ACT-SO committee has many responsibilities: conducting planning meetings; recruiting sponsors and other community support; recruiting students and mentors in the fall; assisting coaches and students in the development of projects that are competitive and will benefit our youth; selecting qualified judges for the local competition; organizing the local competition event; and overseeing the winners’ submission to and participation in the national competition. If you are interested in volunteering on a local ACT-SO committee, you may contact Montgomery County ACT-SO Coordinator Yvette Butler at 301-588-5500 or the National ACT-SO Office at the address and phone number shown above, or go to www.NAACP-mc.org.

COACHES

Coaches may be teachers, parents, university professors, professionals, or any person with expertise in one of the competition area listed in these guidelines. Coaches need to be willing to devote at least one hour per week to guiding, advising and supporting their students’ efforts.

JUDGES

Judges are degreed professionals or employed professionals in the category that they are judging. Judges are responsible for selecting the best among the submissions in accordance with the judging criteria. Local judges may not serve as judges at the National Competitions.

STUDENT

Students are, of course, the very heart of ACT-SO. They must strictly follow the criteria explained in the guidelines. Every participant is encouraged to become an NAACP youth member.

SPONSOR

Sponsors provide financial and equipment resources, as well as human resources to lend technical expertise during the local and national competitions.

OBJECTIVES ACT-SO was designed to stimulate, promote and encourage high academic and artistic achievement among African American high school students. In short, we will "act so" that academic and artistic achievers receive great recognition.

ACT-SO recognizes that while gold, silver and bronze medals are effective incentives to excellence, awards are not the primary goal. Rather, our vision centers around the mobilization of adults in our communities for the continuous promotion of academic and artistic excellence among African American students. We urge all NAACP units to reach out and recruit volunteers to serve as year-long instructors, coaches, teaches, and most importantly role models for our youth in all of the categories in this program.

COMPETITIONS

LOCAL

NAACP branches across the country conduct annual local ACT-SO competitions until April. Contact your NAACP branch or the National ACT-SO Director as soon as possible to locate the program in your area and to verify the categories available in that local competition. All categories are not necessarily available in every local competition. If there is no program in your city or town, you may compete in the competition closest to your hometown.

NATIONAL

Youth participating in the National ACT-SO competition must:

1. Be first place winners in the local ACT-SO competition. If a first place winner is not able to compete nationally, then the second place winner may replace the first place winner.

Note: Any student replacing the first place winner must meet the scoring requirements and submit all required materials, on or before the date designated by the National ACT-SO Office.

2.Compete with the same performance and/or project used at the local level.

National ACT-SO Competition Awards and Prizes. Gold Medalists receive a cash award in the amount of $1000. Silver Medalists receive a cash award in the amount of $750. Bronze Medalists receive a cash award in the amount of $500.

3.Be available to compete at the National Competition in order to remain eligible for all local NAACP ACT-SO monetary prizes and awards.

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