OPPD and the OPPD Society of Engineers
Marshmallow Challenge - Official Rules

1. Overview: OPPD and the OPPD Society of Engineers will sponsor a contest for teams of students to apply math, science, and engineering principles to construct the tallest free standing spaghetti structure they can (the "Contest"). The Contest will be held in conjunction with National Engineers Week to help promote and spur interest in engineering. The Contest will be held at the discretion of individual teachers, classrooms, and school districts and in accordance with appropriate and applicable health and safety protocols. An initial contest will be held within a classroom. A winner from the classroom will be determined and submitted to OPPD in accordance with these rules. At the end of Engineers Week, the OPPD Society of Engineers will compile all entries and determine and award prizes to the classroom of the top three teams.

2. Eligibility Restrictions: Students currently enrolled in 5th grade or equivalent, and who attend school in OPPD’s service territory.

3. Dates: Structures must be constructed on or prior to March 5, 2025. Entries must be received by no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Contest winners will be announced on Friday, March 7, 2025.

4. Contest: The building activity will be conducted in a classroom setting by teachers or other facilitators. It is up to the individual teacher to determine how the activity will be incorporated and executed.

The activity itself must follow the specified rules, restrictions, and requirements provided on the instruction sheet
Individual classrooms are responsible for providing their own materials per the guidelines specified on the instruction sheet
Teams can be formed however the teacher or facilitator desires but must have 3-4 members
Prep-work and prior knowledge of the rules and activity can be incorporated however the teacher or facilitator desires. For instance, teams may be given a period of time before the construction period to come up with a basic design or talk about a building strategy. They cannot, however, make any physical alterations to the materials outside of the 20 minute construction period.
A classroom is encouraged to enter all teams that participated in the general contest.
The OPPD Society of Engineers will compile all entries and determine a top three teams and an overall winner based on overall height.

5. Entrant Submittal: Entries will be submitted by the teacher or facilitator to the OPPD Society of Engineers via Facebook. The submittal should contain, at a minimum, (1) a picture of the structure, (2) the structure height to the nearest ¼ inch, and (3) the name of the winning team (the "Entry" or "Entries"). Also, a picture of the members with the structure is desired but not required.

6. Prizes: All members of the classroom from each of the top three teams as determined by structure height will receive an OPPD Society of Engineers goody and treat bag. If desired, OPPD will provide a speaker to each of the winning classrooms to give a talk about pursuing a career in engineering.

7. Terms and Conditions

General Contest Conditions: Entrants agree that any pictures or photographs submitted via Facebook, or other means, will become the property of OPPD. Entries must include all the required information as described in the Contest rules or the Entry(ies) will not be eligible. OPPD and its agents are not responsible for any lost, late, misdirected, or incomplete Entries or for any inaccurate transcription of entry information, or any failures and/or delays in on-line transmissions, malfunction or failure of any Internet connection, malfunction or failure of software or hardware, or any other errors or delays in the transmission or receipt of entries, whether human or technical in nature. The winner(s) shall be solely responsible for applicable taxes, if any, and the reporting consequences thereof, and for any other fees or costs associated with the Contest. This Contest is subject to all federal, state, province, and local laws.

Entrants' Representations: By entering the Contest and submitting an Entry, each participating school and entrant waives all intellectual property rights, including any copyright or publishing rights, if any, in and to the Entry(ies) in favor of OPPD, and irrevocably grants OPPD an unconditional, transferrable, perpetual, royalty-free license to all copyrights in and to the Entry(ies), including, the right to use any photographic images, names, statements, or other materials related to the Entry(ies). Each participating school and entrant warrants to OPPD that all permissions and clearances necessary to grant the rights to OPPD, as set out above, have been obtained (including, if minors, from each team member's parent or guardian), and consents to OPPD's to use of the Entries as described herein. Each participating school and entrant agrees that, at the sole discretion of OPPD, submissions may be posted on OPPD's website, Facebook page, or other forms of media. OPPD reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove any photographs deemed to be obscene, defamatory, unlawful or otherwise inappropriate in nature or content and to disqualify the entrant of any such entry.

General Release: By entering the Contest, the participating schools and entrants agree that they have no right to bring (and covenants and agrees not to bring) any claim, action, or proceeding of any kind or nature whatsoever against OPPD and all of OPPD's respective agents, employees, directors, officers, shareholders, successors and assigns (collectively “Releasees”) in connection with the Contest. By entering, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the Contest judges’ decisions, and to release all Releasees from any and all liability, loss, injury, or damage of any kind arising out of or in connection with their participation in the Contest.

Privacy/Personal Information: By entering the Contest, each Entrant is deemed to have accepted the provisions of OPPD’s Privacy Policy, located at www.oppd.com, and consents to the collection, use, and possible disclosure of his/her photograph, likeness, statements and/or image for the administration of the Contest including, but not limited to, the posting of the Entry(ies) on the OPPD Website and the announcement of winners. Any discrepancies between these Rules and OPPD’s Privacy Policy will be resolved in favor of these Official Rules.