But getting students excited is only part of the job. We needed to involve their parents, who would pay for the course. It is how we did it.
Not only students had to post their achievements on social media for their peers and classmates to see, but parents could register, too, and get their kids involved. The mom's motivation is clear. It's to get her child involved in the competition, get a discount or even enroll in the USE training course for free, and then enter the university.
But why would a kid get their mom involved? The answer is simple: to get a few steps closer to the grand prize. So, for registering a mom in the system, the kid gets extra points and will jump higher in the ranking table.
And there's more. We prompted the parents' active participation, too. They could invite both kids and their friends who also have high schoolers. Each new registration earned a kid extra points and moved them up in the rankings. Also it was a video to feature this competition and attract an online audience.