As a father of two elementary school children, I’m particularly excited about Care2’s new "America’s Favorite School" contest. We’re partnering with GreatSchools, an independent, nonprofit organization that improves education by inspiring parents to be involved, to promote this fun new way for communities to rally around their school. And when the virtual dust settles after voting ends on November 8th, the top school will win $20,000!

Parents and educators know that test scores only tell one side of the story for a school. Every day in every school across the country, committed teachers, parent volunteers, student leaders and caring communities go that extra mile to make our schools the special places our children need to learn, grow and thrive.

With our country's ongoing economic problems, schools across the nation face deep budget cuts this fall, and parents are understandably concerned. A recent GreatSchools poll found more than three in five parents (61%) believe the quality of education in their school will suffer because of cutbacks.

Now is a perfect time to support America’s schools. At the heart of every great school are passionate individuals giving it their all to help educate and inspire our children.  Our mission at Care2.com is to help people make the world a better place, so we’re excited to be able to reward the teachers, parents, students and communities that are making an extraordinary difference.

Care2 will be awarding $36,000 to schools across the United States through this contest. We are committed to ensuring that all schools, regardless of demographics and average community income, have the opportunity to win; so, we'll be awarding a cash prize every week to a randomly selected school. And, in addition to the grand prize awarded to the school with the most votes, Care2 will award a total of $11,000 to the four schools in second through fifth place.

We're off to a great start, with schools in NYC and CA leading the pack.  That said, the leading schools got most of their votes over a few days of concerted efforts - so the race is still wide open for schools that can get the word out in their communities.  The winning school isn't necessarily going to be the biggest - it's going to be the school that best rallies its supporters and gets creative to spread the word online.

Whether you’re a mom to a first grader, the grandfather of four, or a young person with fond memories of your elementary school, you can vote today and spread the word to help your favorite school win.