Marie Jean Philip Registration

The Marie Jean Philip Competition is back for 2027 with some new changes!

As technology continues to reshape how stories are told and shared, we believe it’s important for this competition to evolve alongside it. Starting this year, the Marie Jean Philip  (MJP) Competition will shift its focus to filmmaking.

This change reflects the growing role that visual media plays in how our community communicates, creates, and preserves its stories. It opens the door for participants to engage with the competition in a new, dynamic way. We’re excited to see how this new format inspires fresh creativity and gives young artists another avenue to honor Marie Jean Philip’s legacy.

Thinking about the founding mission of the MJP Competition, we are reminded that Marie Jean Philip was a huge advocate for ASL, Deaf Culture, and for quality of Deaf education. This competition was founded to celebrate creativity, artistic excellence, and strong signed communication.

Schools have updated their curriculum over the years, and the competition did not evolve with these updates. Unfortunately, many schools have cut their art programs and there is a shift towards technology. After much discussion, we decided to pivot into a film competition.

With the strong influence of technology in school’s curriculum and today’s generation consuming high amounts of online media, we believe having students learn how to develop a storyline, use a camera, and edit will be a fantastic way to get students engaged with the competition.

We are aware that some schools may not have video cameras or the best editing software. That is not a problem- creative submissions will not be judged on the type of equipment used. An iPad and iMovie will do. Our focus is on fostering students’ creativity, story development skills, and collaboration with others.

In the past, the MJP Competition was based on an annual theme. Going forward, we will no longer provide a theme. We encourage students to tap into their creative sides and create something they are passionate about.

Submissions will still be judged based on age groups, but we highly encourage students to collaborate with their peers of the same ages if possible. For schools who may have a few students, individual submissions are encouraged as well.

It will be up to each school whether they want to hold their own internal competition during school hours, or if the activity is offered through after school programs/clubs. We highly encourage schools to have an internal competition (although not required) and select the top videos for submission to the 2027 MJP Competition.

The new categories are:
1-minute film
3-minutes film
ASL Storytelling (up to 3-minutes)
ASL Poetry (up to 3-minutes)

The judges will score all content based on ASL usage, storytelling/poetry rubrics.  Judges will not score based on type of equipment used nor the amount of students who submit from your school. Rubrics will be shared with schools who register for the competition.