• Registration Deadline: June 28th 2021
• Submission Deadline: July 5th 2021
• Registration Fee: $35

It’s time for the Panacea Challenge 2021!! This challenge stemmed from an idea Dr. Balu Natarajan had last year to engage NorthSouth students with a creative activity during quarantine, and it was a huge success, thanks to all of the students, families, and volunteers!

This year, we have a new theme for the contest - Community Improvement & DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). We have also expanded to 3 age groups: Elementary (Kindergarten-5th grade), Middle School (6th-8th grade), and High School (9th-12th grade). Submissions will be accepted within the following 2 categories: Essay (written submission) and Multimedia (video submission + poster or graphic).

Elementary students will be challenged to describe a novel invention they want to see made in 2021 that would benefit society. Middle and high schoolers will be challenged to create a project or a product that would benefit the community in line with the theme of DEI. The purpose of the broad submission criteria is to encourage self-directed learning and creativity; we want students with various passions to engage with this topic via their personal strengths/areas of interest. Students are also allowed to work together in groups of up to 3, in an effort to encourage collaboration.

Good luck! We are excited to see what you all come up with this year!