All MOUSE Squad Members are teachers, too. You teach your fellow Squad members, your friends and family at home, maybe you teach people in your community, even your teachers at school! Teaching is a critical part of every squad's job. Your goal as a MOUSE Squad technician isn't simply to solve problems, it's also to help people become more empowered to solve problems themselves and do things on their own.

This year, MOUSE is excited to invite you to join the Third Annual Do It Yourself Competition. The goal of Do It Yourself (D.I.Y.) is to develop a teaching tool that helps others to do something on their own. Does your squad have special skills, unique talents, or great solutions to common problems? Use this project to show others how they can do it too!

What's should it look like?

A successful D.I.Y. Project has a few key characteristics:

• A clear purpose: It should solve a problem, answer a question, or help people learn a skill or bit of knowledge that will help them (D.I.Y. topics can be technical or non-technical).
• Use of new media: A great MOUSE Squad D.I.Y. utilizes new media and technologies to reach as many people as possible. Websites, screencasts, podcasts, videos, digital workbooks - all of these, and many more, are great media to use for your D.I.Y.
• Fun and engaging: be creative! Often the best teaching tools are ones that make the subject or content exciting. Does your Squad have great actors? Aspiring musicians, directors, programmers? Use available talents to bring your D.I.Y. to life!
• Appropriate for students: Be smart, know your audience - make sure the tool you create is helpful and appropriate for people like you.

The folks who made this video didn’t learn how to give a perfect handshake overnight, and putting together their D.I.Y. took some time, too: the creators went through many steps along the way. That’s why throughout the year you’ll see a series of D.I.Y.-related posts popping up on the Wire, with ideas and information relating to prototyping and inventions, and tasks to keep your squad on track to completing an amazing D.I.Y. Project—so stay tuned!

This year, for the first time ever, in addition to the Grand Prize and runner-ups there will be two additional awards that your squad could walk away with:

• The Show Your Work Award, for the squad that does the most stand-out job documenting the many twists and turns of their process. The winners of this award will end up with a stellar set of Design Documents that detail their project's path to greatness.
• The Squads’ Choice Award, for the D.I.Y. Project that YOU say is the best teaching tool!

Winners will include some great gear, like:

• A LEGO NXT Robotics System
• A $250 Best Buy gift card
• A MOUSE Squad Flip(TM) Camera

Click here for more info about MOUSE's national D.I.Y. Project. Or, consult your region-wide Coordinator for details about D.I.Y. submissions for your Squad.

Each MOUSE Squad is encouraged to submit as many D.I.Y. projects as you like. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing—and learning from!—your amazing projects in the months to come!

All submissions for the 2010/2011 D.I.Y. project are due by May 13, 2011, or by May 6, 2011 to be considered for the Squads’ Choice Award!