VIRGINIA LOTTERY S 2016 SUPER TEACHER AWARDS CONTEST FINAL RULES FOR OPERATION.

Transcription

1 DIRECTOR'S ORDER NUMBER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN (15) VIRGINIA LOTTERY S 2016 SUPER TEACHER AWARDS CONTEST FINAL RULES FOR OPERATION. In accordance with the authority granted by B(15) and A of the Code of Virginia, I hereby promulgate the Virginia Lottery s 2016 Super Teacher Awards Contest rules to support the Virginia Lottery s commitment to public education and to honor outstanding Virginia public school teachers who go the extra mile to serve their students and their communities. The contest will be conducted beginning Monday,, and ending Monday, February 15, These rules amplify and conform to the duly adopted Virginia Lottery regulations for the conduct of lottery games. The rules are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours at the Virginia Lottery headquarters, 900 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia, and at each of the Virginia Lottery offices. A copy may be requested by mail by writing to: Director s Office, Virginia Lottery Department, 900 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia This Director's Order becomes effective on Monday,, and shall remain in full force and effect unless amended or rescinded by further Director's Order. /s/ Amy K. Dilworth December 8, 2015 Amy K. Dilworth, General Counsel Date /s/ Paula I. Otto December 9, 2015 Paula I. Otto, Executive Director Date Page 1 of 8

2 VIRGINIA LOTTERY S SUPER TEACHER AWARDS OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES 2016 A. PURPOSE: A Contest will be conducted to support the Virginia Lottery s commitment to public education and to honor outstanding Virginia public school teachers who go the extra mile to serve their students and their communities. Through this Contest, one (1) Prizewinner will be selected from each of eight (8) identified regions within the State of Virginia for a total of eight (8) Prizewinners. B. CONTEST PERIOD: The Contest will be conducted beginning on Monday,, and ending on Monday, February 15, 2016 ( Contest Period ). C. DEFINITIONS (for purposes of this Contest): Contest means a formal process of receiving and reviewing Nominations in order to select a Prizewinner(s) in accordance with the Rules. Contest Period means the time frame during which Nominations for this Contest will be accepted. Contest Rules or Rules means these rules. Director means the Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery as established in Chapter 40 of Title 58.1 ( et seq.) of the Code of Virginia or any other employee(s) to whom the Executive Director s authority is lawfully delegated. Lottery means the Virginia Lottery. Lottery Board means the group of five (5) people, appointed by the Governor of Virginia, with the power to adopt regulations governing the establishment and operation of the Virginia Lottery and to perform other functions that are set out in the Code of Virginia. Nomination or Nomination Form or Entry means a method, whether electronic or paper-based, by which a Nominator enters a Contest. Nominator means a Person who is at least eighteen (18) years of age, who validly enters a contest according to one of the approved Entry methods stated in the Rules. Person means a natural person and may not extend to or be applied to a corporation, company, partnership, association or other entity. Page 2 of 8

3 Prize or Prizes means the winnings as defined in Section I ( Grand Prize Description ). Prizewinner or Winning Nominee means a verified Person who is entitled, via verification methods described herein, to receive a Prize under the rules of a Contest. D. CONTEST ENTRY: To submit a Nomination for a Super Teacher Award, a Nominator must submit a Lottery Super Teacher Awards Nomination Form ( Nomination Form ) that consists of four (4) short-answer questions, each with a response of one hundred (100) words or less (total not to exceed 400 words), via the established entry methods for this Contest. Nominators may also include additional information in the form of a video (not to exceed three (3) minutes) or selection of photographs, not to exceed ten (10). Entries for this Contest will be accepted via the Internet and U.S. Mail. E. ENTRY DEADLINE: Nomination Forms submitted via U.S. mail must be postmarked by Monday, February 15, 2016, and received by Friday, February 19, 2016, to be eligible for consideration in this Contest. Nomination Forms submitted via the Internet will be accepted until 11:59 PM EST on Monday, February 15, F. CONTEST ELIGIBILITY: 1. Nomination Forms may be submitted ONLY by Persons eighteen (18) years of age or older. Nominators may be required to provide proof of their birth dates. 2. Board Members, officers, employees and vendors of the Lottery and any Person(s) residing in the same household of such member, officer, employee or vendor are not eligible to participate in this Contest. 3. A Person may submit more than one Nomination Form provided that a different teacher is nominated with each Entry. 4. Each Nomination Form must contain no more than one hundred (100) words in response to each of the four questions (total of 400 words, maximum). 5. Nomination Forms become the property of the Virginia Lottery and will not be returned. 6. Only the information pertaining to that which is requested on the Nomination Form will be considered. Any additional information submitted (outside of the allowable video and/or photo(s) described herein)will not be used in the judging process and will render the Nomination Form invalid. 7. The Lottery will not be responsible for Nomination Forms that are submitted incorrectly or received before the Contest start date or after the applicable Entry deadline date or the accepted receive-by date for Mailed Entries. Such Nomination Forms shall be deemed invalid. 8. Only Nomination Forms that are submitted in the manner described in Section G ( Mailed Entries ) and Section H ( Internet Entries ) of these official Rules will be eligible for consideration in this Contest. Page 3 of 8

4 9. Nominators must correctly submit all required information. The Lottery will not be responsible for information that is submitted incorrectly. Nomination Forms missing required information will not be considered. 10. Each Nomination Form must contain current and valid information. The Lottery will not change or update information on a Nomination Form that has already been submitted. 11. Teacher Eligibility: a. Nominated teachers must be full-time, fully licensed pre-k 12 public school educators currently teaching in the Commonwealth of Virginia. b. Nominated teachers must be eighteen (18) years of age or older. Prizewinners may be required to provide proof of their birth dates. G. MAILED ENTRIES: 1. To submit a Nomination by mail, the nominator must clearly and legibly complete a Nomination Form. 2. Nomination Forms are to be submitted during the Contest Period to: Virginia Lottery Super Teacher Awards 900 E. Main Street 13th Floor Richmond, Virginia Nomination Forms mailed to or delivered to any other Lottery address will not be considered. 4. Nomination Forms mailed to the Lottery with insufficient postage will not be considered. H. INTERNET ENTRIES: To submit a Nomination via the Internet, the Nominator must go to the Lottery s Super Teacher Contest website at and complete a Nomination Form following the provided instructions. I. GRAND PRIZE DESCRIPTION: A $2, credit with the Supply Room Companies to supply the Prizewinner with an assortment of supplies that can be used to better equip his/her classroom. A $2, cash prize from the Lottery for personal use by the Prizewinner. Page 4 of 8

5 J. GRAND PRIZEWINNER SELECTION: All eligible Nomination Forms submitted via the established Entry methods and received by the applicable established Entry deadline dates will be reviewed Monday, February 22, 2016, through Monday, March 21, 2016, by a panel of judges who will select eight (8) essay Entries to win the eight (8) Grand Prizes in this Contest. The panel is comprised of representatives from the Virginia Parent Teacher Association Board, former Super Teacher Prizewinners, educators, and community leaders. The following is an overview of how the received Nomination Forms will be reviewed for the purpose of selecting the Grand Prizewinners. 1. After the established Entry deadline dates, all submitted Nomination Forms will be sorted according to eight (8) designated regions within the state. The regions are listed below. (See Appendix A for a detailed map). Abingdon Charlottesville Winchester Alexandria Richmond Norfolk Petersburg Roanoke 2. Each Nomination Form will be reviewed and scored based on the following criteria : Passion and commitment to the teaching profession Innovation and creativity in the classroom Ability to involve parents and families in their students education 3. After the panel of judges has submitted its decision for the eight (8) Prizewinners, a representative of the Lottery s Communications Department will confirm that the selected Nomination Forms are valid. In the event that a selected Entry is deemed invalid, an alternate Entry will be selected as a Prizewinner. This process shall continue until all valid Prizewinners have been selected for each of the established regions. 4. The Prizes awarded during this Contest are not transferable or assignable. Prizes offered by the Supply Room Companies are not redeemable for cash. 5. Prizes offered by the Supply Room Companies must be delivered to Prizewinners within one year of the date of the prize award and must be delivered to an address within the State of Virginia. K. PRIZEWINNER PROCEDURES: 1. Each of the eight (8) Prizewinners selected will receive a winner information packet from the Lottery. Included in the packet will be a congratulatory letter and a Claim form. 2. Each Prizewinner will be required to complete the Claim form included in his/her information packet and return it by the deadline date stated in his/her congratulatory letter. Page 5 of 8

6 3. Once the Lottery receives the properly completed and signed form, it will forward each Prizewinner his/her Prize. L. PRIZE AWARD/PAYMENT: 1. When paying the Grand Prize ($2, cash portion), the Lottery shall report the winnings or withhold taxes pursuant to rules established by the Internal Revenue Service and Virginia Department of Taxation and shall file the appropriate income reporting form(s) with the Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia Department of Taxation. 2. Each Prizewinner will be provided with a 1099 tax statement from the Lottery for tax reporting purposes, as applicable. Each Prizewinner is legally required to include the value of the Prize, as well as any taxes paid by the Lottery on his/her behalf, in his/her taxable income for tax reporting purposes. As a result of accepting a Prize, and taking into account a Prizewinner s total taxable income for the year in which the Prize is accepted, a Prizewinner may fall into a higher tax bracket for his/her federal and state tax liabilities for the year in which the Prize is accepted. 3. The Grand Prizes ($2, cash portion) awarded in this Contest are subject to any set-off for delinquent debts and the Lottery shall withhold any monies due under the Commonwealth s Set-Off Debt Collection Act if the agency has registered such debt with the Virginia Department of Taxation and timely notice of the debt has been furnished by the Virginia Department of Taxation to the Virginia Lottery. M. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER RULES: The rules and procedures set forth in these Virginia Lottery Super Teacher Awards Official Contest Rules shall govern this Contest, except where the same are in conflict with applicable laws, regulations, or more specific rules, in which case the applicable laws, regulations or more specific rules shall control. N. CANCELLATION POLICY: Canceled Judging or Prize award(s): The Director may, in the Director s sole discretion, cancel Nomination From judging on holidays, days of special importance or on days when conditions make conducting the judging impractical or inappropriate, and may elect to conduct judging at such times and dates, and pursuant to such methods, as the Director may determine, all in the Director s sole discretion. Neither the Lottery, the Director, nor any employee of the Lottery or member of the Lottery Board, shall have any liability whatsoever for any such re-schedule/cancellation. Termination Of Contest: The Director may, at any time, announce a suspension or termination of this Contest without advance notice and in the Director s sole discretion, at which point no further Entries will be accepted and no additional Prizes shall be awarded. Neither the Lottery, the Director, nor any employee of the Lottery or member of the Lottery Board, shall have any liability whatsoever for any such suspension/termination. O. DISPUTES: The Director may refrain from awarding/paying a Prize pending final determination under any of the following circumstances: Page 6 of 8

7 a. if a dispute related to any Prize occurred or if it appears that a dispute may occur; b. if there is any question regarding the identity of the Nominator or Prizewinner; or c. if there is any question regarding the validity of any Entry submitted. No liability for interest arising because of any such delay, or any delay beyond the Lottery s control, shall accrue to the benefit of the Prizewinner pending award/payment of the Prize. The Lottery is neither liable for, nor has it any responsibility to resolve, disputes between or among competing Nominators and/or Prizewinners. In the event of a dispute or other instance of doubt, the decision of the Director shall be final and binding. P. GOVERNING LAW: By participating in this Contest, each person agrees to comply with and abide by the Lottery statutes, Lottery regulations, all final decisions of the Director, and these and any other applicable Rules established by the Lottery Board and/or Director for the conduct of this Contest. Any dispute arising that relates to any aspect of this Contest shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the venue for the determination of any such dispute shall be in the city of Richmond, Virginia. Q. WAIVER OF CLAIMS: By entering this Contest, all Prizewinners agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and waive any claims against, the Lottery and any of the affiliates, employees, directors, officers, agents, representatives and assigns of any of said entities, arising, directly or indirectly, out of, or in any way connected with, this Contest or the Prizes awarded in connection therewith. R. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ( ADA ): The Lottery is not responsible for any third party s compliance with ADA Rules and Regulations where applicable in connection with a Prize. Page 7 of 8

8 APPENDIX A Page 8 of 8