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Jackson State University is aiming to receive a campus-improvement grant up to $50,000 sponsored by Home Depot’s annual Retool Your School program.
The Retool Your School program was established in 2010 by The Home Depot to give back to the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The program provides support through grants for on-campus enhancement projects.
Securing the grant for Jackson State University heavily depends on supporters to vote on social media by using the hashtag #Jackson_RYS18 on their Twitter and Instagram pages. There is no limitation on how many times the hashtag can be used in one day. However, posts made via social media must be public to be counted as a vote in the competition. Votes can also be submitted at www.retoolyourschool.com.
Online voting begins Feb. 26 and ends April 15. 
Each HBCU is divided into three clusters based on student enrollment. Three winners will be chosen from each cluster:
- $50,000 grand prize grant
- $40,000 2nd place grant
- $30,000 3rd place grant
The Home Depot Retool Your School improvement awards are decided by consumer voting via social media and project proposal scores, which are determined by a panel of judges. The judges will score each school’s proposal on a scale from lowest to highest or from one to ten 10 based on the following criteria:
- completeness of the proposal
- ability to execute the project within the budget of $50,000, $40,000 and $30,000
- ability for the project to make lasting positive transformation on the campus that are noticeable
- use sustainable, eco-friendly and energy-saving materials, such as, but not limited to energy-efficient lighting and windows, and water-saving faucets and toilets
- cumulative voting score
All grant awards will be announced on May 1.