Thank you to all of the educators who have participated in the Best Buy Teach Award program over the years. We are proud that we've been able to support more than 6,000 schools and the creative ways you've incorporated technology into your teaching.

At Best Buy we believe technology can excite and engage students, creating a more valuable educational experience. We also believe that the students themselves should tell us what technology they need in the classroom to make that experience the best it can be. That's why moving forward students have the power to decide the winning schools in the new Teach@15 Awards.

What Is Teach@15?

The Teach@15 Award program helps schools serving any grades 7-12 meet their technology needs. Teens (age 13-18) who are registered members on at15.com ("Members") can nominate their schools (depending on eligibility) to win a Teach@15 Award. Starting early September 2009, teen members can vote once a day for 15 days for one nomination. Every 15 days, Best Buy will award 3 schools with Best Buy Gift Cards based on member votes. The school with the most votes will win $1,500, second most votes wins $1,000 and third most votes wins $500.

How It Works

Nominations: Starting early September members can nominate their schools for a Teach@15 Award. Members can nominate their schools once per nomination period. Nominations will be reviewed and approved for the next voting period.

School Eligibility Requirements:

• Accredited non-profit junior or senior public, private, parochial, magnet and charter high schools (serving any grades 7-12).
• All schools must be non-profit.
• All schools must be located in the United States.
• Nominations must be made by Members of the @15 Site.
• Home schools, pre-K schools/programs, after-school programs, colleges, universities and vocational-technical schools are NOT eligible.

Voting: Starting early September 2009 and every 15 days thereafter, teen members will be able to vote once a day for a nominated school. At the end of the 15 day voting period, votes will be tallied and the nominated schools with the most votes will be granted the Teach@15 Award. The winning school will use the award to purchase any Best Buy products that meet the need described by the Member in the online nomination form.

Why The Change?

The new Teach @15 Awards give the decision making power directly to the students, which aligns more closely with Best Buy's @15 commitment to empower teens to create change. Teens can nominate and vote for schools to receive awards every 15 days.

The new award structure extends the reach of the Teach Award program by making awards to schools more frequently and getting new technology into schools faster. In addition, schools can now increase their chances of winning by mobilizing students to register on at15.com and vote early and often. The fate of their nomination is at their own fingertips.

Click here to see complete program details