Official Rules

Purdue 1 Indiana Fifth-Grade Essay Competition

The Purdue 1: Indiana Fifth-Grade Essay Competition (“Competition”) is sponsored by Purdue University (“Purdue” or “Sponsor”) and jointly administered by the Purdue University Office of Engagement (“OoE”), Purdue University College of Engineering (“CoE”), and Purdue Extension 4-H Youth Development (“Purdue 4-H”).

The Competition supports Purdue 1, Purdue University’s planned suborbital mission aboard a Virgin Galactic spacecraft. Purdue 1 is expected to feature an all-Purdue crew and to advance the land-grant missions of research, teaching, and engagement in space. The flight is currently expected in 2027; flight timing and mission details may change.

These Official Rules govern the Competition. By submitting an entry, the entrant’s parent or legal guardian agrees to these Official Rules on behalf of the entrant.

The Competition invites Indiana fifth-grade students to respond to an essay prompt concerning space, innovation, Purdue, and the entrant’s community or family. Its purposes are to:

  • Encourage curiosity about space, science, engineering, and innovation;
  • Strengthen written communication, creative thinking, and critical thinking;
  • Connect Indiana youth and communities with Purdue 1; and
  • Highlight Purdue University’s land-grant commitments to research, teaching, and engagement.

The Competition is scheduled to open at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 1, 2026, and close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 30, 2026 (“Competition Period”).

The Sponsor may modify the Competition Period when reasonably necessary. Any material change will be posted on the official Competition website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/purdue1/essay-competition.

The Competition is open only to students who:

  1. Are enrolled in fifth grade during the 2026–2027 school year;
  2. Attend a public, private, charter, parochial, virtual, or home school in Indiana, or otherwise reside in Indiana while receiving a fifth-grade-equivalent home education;
  3. Submit only one entry;
  4. Have permission from a parent or legal guardian; and
  5. Meet all requirements in these Official Rules.

No purchase, payment, Purdue affiliation, or 4-H membership is required.

Children of Competition administrators, judges, or individuals with access to nonpublic judging information may enter only if the Sponsor determines that adequate safeguards can eliminate any actual or apparent conflict of interest. A parent or legal guardian may not judge an entry submitted by their child or by a child in their household.

Eligibility is subject to verification. The Sponsor may request reasonable documentation confirming grade level, Indiana eligibility, county, or parental authority.

The Competition is void where prohibited.

An eligible student may participate through either of the following paths:

Teacher-supported submission. A teacher may conduct a classroom process and submit up to three entries selected from the teacher’s participating students, subject to the required parent or legal guardian permission.

Direct submission. A parent or legal guardian may submit an eligible student’s entry directly, including for a student whose classroom or school is not participating and for a homeschooled student.

Entries must be uploaded through the official Competition platform during the Competition Period. After October 1, the official Competition platform can be accessed via https://engineering.purdue.edu/purdue1/essay-competition. The submission must include all required information, including:

  • Student’s name;
  • Student’s preferred name for recognition and any commemorative item (format should be first name, last name initial. For example: Jane D.);
  • Grade-level and school or home-school information, including mailing address
  • Indiana county;
  • Parent or legal guardian name, and email address;
  • Required permissions and acknowledgments;
  • The essay;
  • Any required description of artificial-intelligence use; and
  • Any other information expressly identified as required on the entry form.

A teacher may initiate an entry by entering student and parent contact information, but the entry will not be complete unless all required parental permissions are received by the stated deadline.

The Sponsor is not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, corrupted, inaccessible, or unsuccessful submissions.

Each essay must:

  1. Directly answer the official Competition prompt;
  2. Consist of approximately three to five paragraphs;
  3. Be written primarily by the student;
  4. Be submitted in English, unless the Sponsor expressly provides another submission option;
  5. Be suitable for a general audience;
  6. Avoid including the student’s name, school name, teacher’s name, contact information, or other identifying information in the essay text or in any supplemental image;
  7. Not contain profanity, threats, harassment, discrimination, graphic content, unlawful content, or material likely to compromise another person’s privacy or safety;
  8. Not advertise a commercial product, service, political campaign, or organization;
  9. Not infringe copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights; Any third-party content that is included in the essay that is not fair use can only be used with the written permission of the copyright owner; and
  10. Comply with all instructions on the official Competition platform.

The Sponsor may correct minor formatting issues without changing the substance of an entry. Material that does not meet these requirements may be disqualified.

Artificial-intelligence tools may be used only with written parent or legal guardian permission.

The majority of the ideas, analysis, organization, and expression in the submission must be the student’s original work. If an artificial-intelligence tool is used, the entrant must identify the tool and briefly explain how it was used. AI-assisted entries will not receive an advantage in judging.

Examples of permitted support may include brainstorming, spelling, grammar, or asking for general explanations. An essay substantially generated by another person or by an artificial-intelligence tool, or an essay that the student cannot reasonably explain as their own work, may be disqualified.

The Sponsor may request clarification regarding the preparation of an entry. Failure to disclose required AI use may result in disqualification.

Purdue 4-H will coordinate the judging process. Judges may include Purdue alumni, engineers, former 4-H participants, approved 4-H volunteers, Purdue students or employees, educators, and community members selected by Purdue 4-H.

Entries will be judged without displaying the student’s name or direct contact information.  These safeguards reflect the youth-protection approach approved for the planned judging process.

The Sponsor expects to select one winner for each Indiana county from which at least one eligible, qualifying entry is received. The Sponsor is not required to select a county winner if no entry from that county reaches an acceptable standard or complies with these Official Rules.

The Sponsor may use preliminary reviewers, judging panels, tie-break reviewers, and administrative review as needed.

Each eligible entry will be evaluated on a 100-point scale. The rubric will be made available by October 1.

Judges should evaluate the substance of ideas fairly and should not penalize an entrant merely because the entrant uses an assistive technology, receives an approved accommodation, or writes in a style reflecting a particular community or educational setting.

If scores are tied, the higher score in Response to the Prompt and Competition Themes will control. If a tie remains, Creative and Critical Thinking, followed by Student Voice and Authenticity, will control. If a tie still remains, a designated tie-break panel will select the entry that best advances the Competition’s educational and engagement purposes.

Judging decisions are final, subject only to the limited administrative review described in Section 18.

All judges and Competition personnel must act impartially and protect the integrity of the Competition.

As part of the sign-up process, each judge must disclose any actual, potential, or apparent conflict of interest, including:

  • A family, household, close personal, supervisory, financial, or mentoring relationship with an entrant, parent, guardian, teacher, or school connected to an assigned entry;
  • Prior access to or assistance with an assigned entry;
  • A circumstance in which the judge’s impartiality could reasonably be questioned; or
  • Any other interest that could affect, or appear to affect, objective review.

The contest administrators will not assign a judge to an entry associated with any actual, potential, or apparent conflict of interest.  A judge must not attempt to influence another judge’s review. Purdue 4-H may reassign entries, remove a judge, disregard affected scores, or take other corrective action.

Judges may not reveal entry content, scores, deliberations, or results at any point and may not use entry information for personal, commercial, research, or other unauthorized purposes.

Potential winners are subject to verification of eligibility, county, compliance, parent or legal guardian permission, and completion of any required release or acknowledgment.

Potential winners are expected to be notified through the parent or legal guardian email address provided with the entry. If a potential winner cannot be contacted, does not respond by the stated deadline, declines the prize, or fails verification, the Sponsor may select an alternate or leave the county award unfilled.

A student is not an official winner until verification is complete and the Sponsor provides confirmation.

Winners are expected to be announced in early spring 2027. The timing may change.

Subject to verification, each county winner is expected to receive:

  1. A personalized commemorative patch displaying the winner’s recognition name;
  2. Recognition in connection with the Purdue 1 engagement project; and
  3. An invitation to a recognition ceremony or related program, if held.

If mission conditions, payload requirements, safety rules, partner requirements, schedules, or operational constraints permit, the name-bearing component associated with the commemorative patch is intended to travel on the Purdue 1 suborbital flight. Flight carriage is a goal and not a guarantee.

Approximate Retail Value: The approximate retail value of each prize is $5.00. Any experiential, ceremonial, publicity, or spaceflight association may have no readily ascertainable retail value. Travel, lodging, meals, parking, and incidental expenses are not included unless expressly stated in writing by the Sponsor.

No cash alternative is available. A prize may not be transferred or sold. The Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater approximate retail value if the announced prize becomes unavailable.

The winner’s parent or legal guardian is responsible for any tax consequence, if applicable.

No entrant is promised a seat on a flight, access to a spacecraft, direct interaction with crew members, admission to a restricted area, or any other benefit not expressly stated in these Official Rules.

Purdue will collect information reasonably necessary to administer the Competition, which may include the student’s name, recognition name, grade, school or home-school status, county, essay, supplemental materials, 4-H affiliation if voluntarily requested, parent or legal guardian contact information, permissions, and eligibility documentation.

Purdue may use this information to:

  • Receive, process, and evaluate entries;
  • Verify eligibility and parental authority;
  • Administer anonymized judging;
  • Contact parents or legal guardians;
  • Select and announce winners;
  • Produce personalized prizes;
  • Conduct recognition activities;
  • Prevent fraud or rule violations;
  • Maintain required University records; and
  • Satisfy legal, safety, audit, and compliance obligations.

Information may be accessed by authorized Purdue units, Purdue Extension personnel, approved judges, service providers supporting the submission or judging platform, and other parties as required by law. Judges should receive only the information needed to evaluate entries and should not receive student names or direct contact information.

The Sponsor will seek to minimize publication of a minor’s personal information. A winner’s name, county, school, essay, image, voice, or video will be publicly used only as authorized by the parent or legal guardian through the applicable release. Declining an optional publicity release will not affect judging, but limited identifying information may be necessary to personalize and deliver the prize.

Parents and legal guardians should ensure that sensitive personal information is not included in an essay, including home addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, medical information, account credentials, or precise location information.

Records will be retained and disposed of in accordance with applicable Purdue requirements and law. Questions or requests concerning personal information may be sent to engagement@purdue.edu. The final published notice should also identify the submission platform and link to any applicable platform privacy terms.

The Competition will be administered in accordance with applicable Purdue youth-protection requirements. Purdue’s Programs Involving Minors policy and related operating procedures emphasize planning, program registration, training, appropriate screening, and safeguards based on the nature of the program.

Competition communications will ordinarily be directed to a parent, legal guardian, teacher, or authorized school contact rather than directly to a child. No judge is authorized to arrange private communication or an in-person meeting with an entrant.

Any ceremony, visit, or additional activity involving minors may require separate registration, permission forms, releases, supervision arrangements, accessibility planning, safety procedures, or other conditions.

Nothing in these Official Rules alters any person’s legal duty to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect.

The entrant retains copyright of the entrant’s original essay and original supplemental material.

By submitting an entry, the parent or legal guardian grants Purdue University a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, , sublicensable license in perpetuity to reproduce, display, publish, distribute, excerpt, adapt for formatting or accessibility, archive, and otherwise use the entry for:

  • Competition administration and judging;
  • Educational and community-engagement activities;
  • Purdue 1 and Competition communications;
  • Exhibitions, ceremonies, reports, websites, social media, and promotional materials; and
  • University historical and archival purposes.

This license does not transfer copyright of the entry to Purdue. Purdue will not knowingly sell the entry as a standalone commercial product without separate written permission.

The Sponsor may make reasonable edits for spelling, length, formatting, accessibility, or clarity when publishing an entry, provided the student’s meaning is not materially changed.

The entrant and parent or legal guardian represent that the submission is original except for properly identified and permitted sources or tools; does not infringe another person’s rights; and may lawfully be submitted and licensed under these Official Rules.

Purdue’s University’s intellectual-property policy remains applicable where legally relevant, but these Competition terms are intended to allow a student entrant to retain copyright of the student’s original submission while providing Purdue the permissions needed to administer and promote the program.

Purdue names, logos, marks, Purdue 1 branding, commemorative patch designs, and other Sponsor-provided materials remain the intellectual property of their respective owners. Participation does not grant entrants a license to use those materials except as expressly authorized for the Competition.

Except where prohibited, a verified winner may be asked to participate in reasonable recognition and publicity related to the Competition. Any use of a minor’s name, likeness, image, voice, video, school, county, quotation, or biographical information will be subject to the parent or legal guardian’s applicable consent.

A publicity or media release should be presented separately from the core permission needed to submit and judge an entry, except where particular identifying information is necessary to create or deliver the personalized prize.

The Sponsor may publish anonymized or de-identified entries without identifying the student.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, each entrant and the entrant’s parent or legal guardian acknowledge that participation is voluntary and agree to release and hold harmless Purdue University, its trustees, officers, employees, agents, participating units, judges, volunteers, service providers, promotional partners, and mission partners from claims arising out of participation in the Competition or acceptance, possession, use, misuse, or inability to use a prize, except to the extent caused by conduct for which liability cannot legally be waived.

Without limiting the foregoing, the Sponsor is not responsible for:

  • Submission-platform outages, transmission failures, corrupted files, unauthorized access, or other technical problems;
  • Incorrect or incomplete contact information;
  • Lost, delayed, damaged, or misdirected communications or prizes;
  • Changes to the Purdue 1 mission, flight date, crew, research program, carrier, payload rules, or public events;
  • Cancellation, postponement, interruption, or modification caused by safety, weather, technical, regulatory, operational, funding, public-health, force-majeure, or other circumstances outside the Sponsor’s reasonable control; or
  • A decision that a personalized item cannot be carried aboard the Purdue 1 flight.

The Competition and submission platform are provided on an “as available” basis, subject to applicable law. Nothing in these Official Rules waives any immunity, defense, limitation of liability, or other protection available to Purdue University under law.

Judging decisions concerning the relative merit of entries are final and are not subject to re-scoring merely because an entrant, parent, guardian, teacher, or school disagrees with the judges’ assessment.

A parent or legal guardian may submit a written request for administrative review only on one or more of the following grounds:

  1. A material error in tabulation or entry assignment;
  2. A material failure to follow the published eligibility or judging procedures;
  3. A previously undisclosed conflict of interest involving an assigned judge; or
  4. A mistaken determination that an entry was late, incomplete, or ineligible.

The request must:

  • Be submitted to Natalie Smith at korniak@purdue.edu;
  • Be received within five business days after the applicable notification or public announcement;
  • Identify the entrant and county;
  • State the specific permitted ground for review; and
  • Include available supporting information.

A review official or panel not involved in the challenged determination will evaluate the request. The review will ordinarily be based on existing records and will not include new or revised essay content. The Sponsor may uphold the decision, correct an administrative error, reassign the entry for review, select an alternate, or take another reasonable action.

The Sponsor’s written determination on administrative review is final.

Before pursuing any formal claim, the parent or legal guardian and the Sponsor will attempt in good faith to resolve the matter informally. Any unresolved dispute will be governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, and will be subject to the jurisdiction and venue provided by applicable law.

The Sponsor may disqualify an entry or entrant for:

  • Ineligibility;
  • Multiple entries;
  • Missing or invalid parental permission;
  • Plagiarism or unauthorized copying;
  • Material misrepresentation;
  • Undisclosed or impermissible AI-generated work;
  • Tampering with the submission or judging process;
  • Attempts to contact, pressure, or improperly influence judges;
  • Violation of privacy, safety, intellectual-property, or content requirements; or
  • Any conduct that undermines the fairness, integrity, or educational purpose of the Competition.

If fraud, technical failure, insufficient participation, safety concerns, legal restrictions, or circumstances beyond the Sponsor’s reasonable control impair the Competition, the Sponsor may suspend, modify, cancel, or terminate it and may select winners from eligible entries received before the action, if fair and feasible.

Purdue is committed to equal access to its educational programs, services, and activities. A parent, legal guardian, teacher, or school may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting Natalie Smith at korniak@purdue.edu by October 18, 2026. Requests received later will be considered when reasonably practicable.

Approved assistive technology and accommodations will not reduce an entrant’s score.

The Sponsor’s failure to enforce any provision of these Official Rules does not waive that provision.

If any provision is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Headings are for convenience and do not limit the meaning of these Official Rules.

If promotional materials conflict with these Official Rules, these Official Rules control.

These Official Rules may be revised before the Competition opens. After opening, the Sponsor may make changes reasonably necessary for legal compliance, safety, fairness, administration, or circumstances beyond its control. Material changes will be posted on the official Competition website.

Questions about the Competition may be directed to:

Purdue University Office of Engagement
Frederick L. Hovde Hall of Administration
610 Purdue Mall, Room 130
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2040
Telephone: 765-494-2744
Email: engagement@purdue.edu

Questions concerning Purdue youth-protection requirements may be directed to the Purdue University Office of the Vice President for Ethics and Compliance at the contact information published on Purdue’s Youth Protection website.