2025 TI CODES CONTEST

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY -- OFFICIAL RULES

Important: Please read these Official Rules (“Rules”) before participating in the 2025 TI Codes Contest (the "Contest"). By participating in the Contest, you agree to be bound by these Rules and represent that you satisfy all of the eligibility requirements below.

CONTEST DESCRIPTIONS: The Contest is a series of STEM-focused design challenges held in three competitive elimination rounds. Each round of the Contest presents a new challenge for teams to advance. Challenges include the creation of a Project Proposal and Project Plan, models and videos. The team that advances through all three rounds and receives the most public votes at the end of the Contest Period will win the Grand Prize (see prize descriptions below). The Adult Sponsor of the Grand Prize-winning team will win a $250 Visa gift card.

No purchase is necessary to enter the Contest. A person who enters the Contest is an “Entrant.”

SPONSOR/ADMINISTRATOR: The Sponsor of the Contest is Texas Instruments Incorporated, acting by and through its Education Technology division (“TI” or “Sponsor”), with a place of business at 13532 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, TX 75243, and with a website at http://education.ti.com. The Administrator of the Contest is TI (“Administrator,” and together with Sponsor, the “Contest Entities”).

CONTEST PERIOD: The Contest will begin on January 8, 2025 at 12:01 AM Central Daylight Time (“CDT”) and will end on May 4, 2025 at 11:59 PM CDT (the “Contest Period”). The Administrator’s computer will be the official time keeping device of this Contest. All dates are expressed month/day/year.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District Of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, who at the time of entry, are students ages 13-19 and in grades 6-12.

Employees (and their immediate families (parent, child, spouse or sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and those living in their same households, whether or not related) of Sponsor, and its respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, franchisees, and participating advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible to enter or win. By participating, Entrants agree to be bound by these Rules and the decisions of the judges and/or Sponsor and/or Administrator, which are binding and final on matters relating to this Contest.

The contest is subject to applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws. This Contest and any advertisements relating thereto are intended for viewing only within the above referenced eligible locations. By participating in the Contest, you agree that: (1) you have read and understand these Rules; (2) you meet the eligibility requirements as explained in these Rules; (3) you are bound by these Rules and Sponsor's Terms of Use and Legal Notices as published at http://www.ti.com; (4) you unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, without appeal; (5) these Rules shall be legally binding on you and your legal representatives, heirs, successors, and assigns.

HOW TO ENTER: Take these steps before the end of the first round of the Contest, February 14, 2025, at 11:59 pm CT:

• Form a team and select a team name (minimum of one student member and a maximum of five student members), then select an Adult Sponsor, such as a parent or teacher. The email address of the team’s Adult Sponsor must be used to participate in the Contest.
• Click on the link for the Contest at https://ticodescontest.com and review the challenge prompt. You may reach this link directly at the education.ti.com website or from posts on the Facebook or Twitter/X feeds of TI Education Technology, or posts on other Facebook and Twitter/X feeds, or banner advertisements on certain educator news outlets.
• The Adult Sponsor must create a team profile by completing the appropriate online form, checkbox consent to the Official Rules on behalf of the Adult Sponsor and each team member, and submit a project proposal packet as outlined on the contest webpage. A team that submits this form with a packet is a “Team Entrant”, and the individual team members are “Entrants”. Materials submitted to the Contest (e.g., project plans, videos, or other submissions) by Team Entrants are “Entries” (individually an “Entry”).

If applicable, message and data rates may apply to the use of a mobile phone/device to participate in the Contest. You (or your parent/legal guardian if you are a minor in your jurisdiction of residence) are strongly advised to check your mobile phone/device carrier’s rate plan before attempting to participate in the contest via use of text or an app. Wireless internet service may not be available in all areas.

To the extent entries to the Contest involve video, photography or any graphics, all product trademarks and logos in the video, photo or graphic, other than Texas Instruments Incorporated trademarks on Texas Instruments products, must be obscured, hidden or covered.

Sponsor hereby grants to each Entrant a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable right to use its trademarks solely for purposes of and limited to including them in the photos submitted in this Contest. Such right and license will automatically expire without further act of any party at the expiration of the Contest Period, unless specifically extended on an individual basis by Sponsor in writing at its sole discretion. Any other use of Sponsor’s trademarks will be a violation of Sponsor’s intellectual property rights.

CONTEST JUDGING AND WINNER SELECTION

Entries will be judged as follows:

• Round 1: The first round of the Contest involves the submission of the team profile and completion of the Project Plan Packet on the TICodesContest.com website. A group of TI judges (“Judges”) will use the rubric in the Project Plan Packet to evaluate all Project Plan submissions. Up to 10 top-scoring teams will advance to Round 2.

• Round 2: The teams advancing to the second round of the Contest will each receive one Supply Kit to build their model. A Supply Kit includes: (i) a TI-84 Plus CE Python, or a TI-Nspire CX II graphing calculator (team may choose), (ii) a TI-Innovator Hub and BBC micro:bit, (iii) TI-Innovator Hub Accessories (Breadboard Pack, I/O Modules, Ultrasonic Ranger Module, and External Battery), and (iv) a $50 Visa gift card to purchase miscellaneous supplies for building the model.

  Teams will build their model and create a video, less than 90 seconds in length, to show their model and explain their Project. Videos must be uploaded to a public YouTube account and a link emailed to codescontest@ti.com by April 11, 2025, at 11:59 pm CT. YouTube Terms of Service and related policies and guidelines may apply to you.

  The Judges will select up to five teams to advance to the final round. Judges will evaluate team videos based on these criteria: (1) successful functionality of the model (35%), (2) use of TI technology (30%), (3) visual appearance of the model (10%), (4) explanation and description of the model (10%), and (5) creativity of the video (15%).

• Round 3: Up to five team videos advancing to the final round will be placed on the Contest webpage. Anyone with access to the internet may vote for any video once during the voting round between April 28, 2025, at 9:01 a.m. CT and May 4, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CT. The team with a video receiving the most votes at the end of Round 3 will receive the Grand Prize. The teams with videos receiving the second and third highest votes will receive the Runners-Up Prize. If any tie occurs in the public voting, the Judges will break the tie based on the most heavily weighted criteria specified above (i.e., functionality of the model).

PRIZES:

Grand Prize: The Grand Prize consists of:

• TI-84 Plus CE Python (ARV $129) or TI-Nspire CX II (ARV $165) graphing calculator for each team Entrant (5 maximum)
• TI-Innovator Hub (ARV $64) and Rover (ARV $135) for each team Entrant and Adult Sponsor (6 maximum)
• TI t-shirts (6 maximum)
• $250 Visa gift card to the Adult Sponsor for use at his or her discretion

Runners-Up: The Runners-Up Prize (for second and third place) consists of:

• TI-84 Plus CE Python or TI-Nspire CX II graphing calculator for each team Entrant (5 maximum)
• TI t-shirts (5 maximum)

In the event of unavailability of a stated prize, TI reserves the right to substitute items of equal or greater value. Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable, or redeemable for cash. Reporting and payment of any federal, state, provincial, local, VAT, or other taxes, fees, customs, duties, insurance, or other amounts owed in connection with any prize are the sole responsibility of the winner(s).

EACH PRIZE IS GIVEN AWAY BY TI “AS IS.” TI DOES NOT MAKE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS, ANY WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, REGARDING ANY PRIZE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Submitted items must comply with these Rules and the following Submission Guidelines. Any entry that, in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion, violates these Rules or the Submission Guidelines below will not be eligible to win a prize.

The submitted entry must NOT, in the sole discretion of Sponsor:

• Have been previously licensed, published, distributed or publicly used or displayed by a commercial enterprise;
• Previously won any prizes or awards in any promotion sponsored by an education technology retailer, either online or in-store;
• Contain material that, in the sole discretion of Sponsor:
  • Disparages any person, Sponsor and/or any of its affiliates’ products, competitors, or any of the Contest Entities affiliated with sponsoring, promoting or administering this Contest, or other companies;
  • Violates or infringes upon the copyrights, trademarks, or privacy, property, publicity or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity not affiliated with this Contest;
  • Includes brand names, copyrighted work or trademarks/logos that may infringe on rights of any third party not affiliated with this Contest;
  • Is hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
  • Promotes bigotry, racism, sexism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;
  • Contains any personal identification, such as personal names or e-mail addresses;
  • Promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing);
  • Promotes any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous;
  • Is unlawful or in violation of any law;
  • Contains any nudity, sexually explicit, lewd, offensive, disparaging or other inappropriate content;
  • Is unsuitable to be entered into this Contest for any reason whatsoever; and/or
  • Communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which Sponsor and/or the Contest Entities wish to associate.

By submitting any entry herein, you hereby represent and warrant that (a) you are eligible to enter the Contest; (b) you shot/created the video, photo, image or other creative work submitted with your entry; (c) your entry is original to you and that you are the owner of all right, title and interest in and to your entry and have the right to grant the rights granted herein or, alternatively, you have obtained all necessary rights and permissions to use and submit your entry in connection with the Contest and to provide all the rights specified in these Rules; (d) you have the unconditional right to submit your entry to Sponsor pursuant to these Rules, and your entry and the use thereof as contemplated herein does not and will not violate, misappropriate, or infringe upon any law or regulation or the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, any copyright, trademark, patent, or any rights of publicity or privacy, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights; (e) your entry has not previously been entered in any other contest or promotion sponsored by an education technology retailer, either online or in-store; or published for commercial purpose in any medium and (f) your entry does not and will not violate any applicable laws, and is not and will not be defamatory or libelous.

SUBMITTED ITEMS REPRESENT SOLELY THE VIEWS/OPINIONS OF THE ENTRANT AND DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS/OPINIONS OF SPONSOR OR ADMINISTRATOR. SPONSOR AND ADMINISTRATOR HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY IN CONJUNCTION WITH SCREENING, MONITORING, OR REVIEWING THE CONTENT OF SUBMITTED ITEMS./p>

CONTEST WINNER NOTIFICATION/VERIFICATION/ACCEPTANCE:

On or about one (1) day after calculating is complete, TI will make two (2) attempts within three (3) business days to contact the Adult Sponsor of potential winning Team Entrants via email, using the Adult Sponsor email address used for the submission. The Adult Sponsor should confirm email spam filters will permit email from TI and/or periodically check the junk email folder for email from TI.

Winner(s) must respond to the prize notification within the time specified in the notification and may be required to: (1) provide his or her full mailing address to receive the prize(s); (2) upon TI’s request, sign and return a release of liability, declaration or affidavit of eligibility, confirmation of Entrant’s agreement to the Official Rules and, where lawful, a publicity release signed by Entrant (or if a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, signed by his/her parent or legal guardian) granting permission to use his/her name and likeness for advertising, and/or promotional and/or marketing purposes (without further compensation) (Tennessee residents need not complete and return a publicity release), and/or to comply with disclosure requirements under applicable law; and (3) upon TI request, provide confirmation of the License granted to TI below signed by each Entrant and, if necessary, by any other person taking or depicted in any video (or if either is a minor, a parent or guardian as prescribed above); (4) take possession of the prize(s) in the manner specified by TI.

Noncompliance, failure to return any documents within the time specified, failure to respond to notification attempts or returns of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected using the criteria specified herein. Administrator will fulfill all prizes within 4-6 weeks after the end of the Contest Period. All decisions of Sponsor relating to the Contest are final.

PUBLICITY: By accepting a prize in this Contest, each Entrant (or if a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian) hereby consents to the use by Sponsor and its designees of his or her information (first name, last initial, city, state) and/or photograph, voice and/or other likeness and prize information for advertising, trade and promotional purposes in any media now known or hereinafter developed throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional consideration or compensation (where legal), notice, consent or prior review, and upon request will provide written consent to such use.

LICENSE: By submitting an entry, each Entrant (or if a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian) acknowledges and agrees that if the entry is determined to be a winner, by acceptance of a prize in this contest, each winning Entrant grants to Sponsor and its licensees, sublicensees, successors, and assigns, the exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicenseable right and license (including but not limited to, all intellectual property and proprietary rights) to use the entry in any manner and in all media now known or hereinafter developed (the “License”). The rights granted pursuant to the License shall also include, without limitation, the right to alter or edit the entry, and to make derivative works based on the entry. Entrant (or if a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian) agrees to sign any documents required by Sponsor upon request to confirm such License.

IDENTITY OF ENTRANT: In the event of a dispute about the identity of an Entrant, entries will be declared/made by the authorized account holder of the email address from which the unaltered entry was submitted (not necessarily the social media site account holder).

NO SPONSORSHIP: Entrant acknowledges and agrees that the Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed administered by, or associated with any media platform including without limitation: Instagram, Twitter, Vimeo or Vine. All information provided by Entrant is provided to Sponsor, and not to a media platform. Any questions, comments or complaints regarding the Contest must be directed to the Sponsor, and not to a media platform.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: The decisions of Sponsor are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest without appeal. Except as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, no substitution of a prize shall be offered and no transfer of the right to receive a prize to a third party is permitted, except by Sponsor, who reserves the right to award a prize, or portion thereof, of equal or greater value. In no event will more than the stated number of prizes be awarded. Actual value of prize will depend on current market conditions at time of fulfillment, and any difference between the stated ARV and the actual value of the prize, if any, will not be awarded, except at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Prizes are awarded "AS IS" and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Any and all guarantees and warrantees on merchandise prizes are subject to the manufacturer’s terms and conditions, and winners agree to look solely to said manufacturers for any such warranty or guarantee claim. All prize details are in Sponsor’s sole discretion.

PRIVACY: Except as otherwise stated in these Rules, personal information collected in connection with this Contest will be used in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy found at http://education.ti.com or with any other consent given by an Entrant. Any communication or information transmitted to Sponsor by electronic mail or otherwise is and will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary.

GENERAL LIABILITY: Participants agree that the Contest Entities: (a) shall not be responsible or liable for, and you hereby release the Contest Entities from, any claims, losses, damages or injuries (including death) of any kind to persons or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, or from acceptance, receipt, possession and/or use/misuse or inability to use a prize; and (b) to the maximum extent permitted by law, have not made any warranty, condition, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to a prize, including, without limitation, to such prize’s quality or fitness for a particular purpose. The Contest Entities shall not be liable for any injury, damage, loss, expense, accident, delay, inconvenience or irregularity that may be caused or contributed to (a) by any wrongful, negligent or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any of their agents, servants, employees or independent contractors; (b) by any wrongful, negligent or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any other person or entity not an employee of the Contest Entities, or (c) by any other cause, condition or event whatsoever beyond the control of the Contest Entities. Failure of Sponsor to enforce any provision herein shall not be deemed a waiver of such. Sponsor reserves the right to modify these Rules for clarification and/or administration purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Contest.

The Contest Entities assume no responsibility for computer system, phone line, hardware, software, third party sites, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures of any kinds, delayed computer transmissions or network, server, cable, satellite, Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other connections that are human or technical in nature or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, notification and announcement of the prizewinners, or in any other Contest-related materials. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel, suspend, modify or amend this Contest, in its entirety or in part, for any reason, including should virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Contest. The Contest Entities are not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate registration information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest, by any technical or human errors which may occur in the processing of the entries in the Contest, or for any technical or human errors which may occur during the administration of the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it suspects to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest, or to be acting in a unsportsmanlike, disruptive, or illegal manner or in violation of these Rules and void all associated entries. The Contest Entities are not responsible for entries that are garbled, late, tampered with, forged, incomplete, misdirected, lost, misplaced, stolen, delayed, damaged, inaccurate, undelivered, destroyed or otherwise not in compliance with these Rules, and all such entries will be void. In the event that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other factors/reasons cause more than the stated number of prizes as set forth in these Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award the Runner-up Prizes and Grand Prize as stated herein via random drawings from among all eligible, legitimate, entries, at their sole discretion.

If any part of these Rules is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and these Rules shall continue in effect. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PARTICIPANT OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND COSTS (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, THE CONTEST ENTITIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE CONTEST, HOWSOEVER CAUSED, WHETHER ARISING IN STATUTE, TORT, CONTRACT, OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH CONTEST ENTITIES OR EITHER OF THEM WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND ALL SUCH DAMAGES ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED AND EXCLUDED.

TERMINATION: Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest at any time for any reason, including but not limited to any reason that affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. Such reasons include but are not limited to fraud, tampering, unauthorized access, infections by computer virus, bugs, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION: The Contest and these rules and conditions shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas and any dispute arising out of this contest shall be brought in, and each Entrant hereby consents to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in, the Federal District Courts sitting in Dallas County, Texas. By entering this Contest, all Entrants agree that any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action or other proceeding.

WINNERS LIST

To obtain a copy of these Rules or the name of the Prize winner(s), after the end date of the Contest, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

Texas Instruments Incorporated, Education Technology
c/o 2025 TI Codes Contest
13532 N. Central Expressway, MS 3821
Dallas, TX 75243

Requests must be received by the date that is no later than six (6) weeks after the end date of the Contest.