Offical Contest Rules
2026 RACK ROOM SHOES TEACHER OF THE YEAR CONTEST
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.
Entry Period and Requirements:
The entry period for the 2026 Rack Room Shoes Teacher of the Year Contest (this “Contest”) starts on February 11, 2026 at 12:00:01 AM ET and ends on February 26, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM ET (the “Entry Period”). During the Entry Period, you (the “entrant”) must submit a photo and tell us about your or your child’s favorite teacher and how the teacher inspired you or your child to achieve greatness. Enter the Contest by submitting your completed entry form as directed (the “Website”), along with your photo and explanation paragraph (together with your entry form, your “Submission”). All Submissions must meet the following requirements: (a) photos must be submitted as digital images in .jpeg or .jpg format at the highest resolution (300 dpi); (b) explanation must not be more than 500 words; (c) entrant must have written permission from all individuals that appear or are personally identified by name or other personal information (including the child’s favorite teacher if so identified) in the Submission (if any) to use their name and/or likeness in the submission and to grant the rights set forth in these Official Rules (If requested, entrant must be able to provide such permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor); (d) entrant must have taken the photo or have written permission from the photographer to use the photo in a Submission to this Contest; (e) the Submission cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means; (f) Submissions must identify an “Eligible School,” meaning an accredited public, private or parochial elementary, middle, junior high or high school, containing any classes with students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade in AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, or WI that is organized and primarily operated for educational purposes, is not a home school, and has a minimum of 100 enrolled students; (g) Submissions cannot contain any unacceptable clothing or adornments (including, but not limited to, any apparel displaying any pictures, graphics, symbols, slogans or sayings found to be, in Sponsor’s sole determination (A) profane or sexually provocative, or (B) derogatory or demeaning toward any racial, ethnic, or religious groups, or any particular national origin or sexual orientation), or display or reference any commercial/corporate advertising, logos, brand names, trademarks or slogans other than those owned by Sponsor; and (h) Submissions cannot show or include: (A) any celebrity or other public figure, (B) any person who has not consented to having their photo used for this Contest, (C) any professional or college sports team uniform, or anyone mentioning a professional or college team name, (D) disparaging or defamatory images (including words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic group), (E) depictions of dangerous or illegal activity, (F) depictions of indecent behavior or obscenities, including, but not limited to, nudity, or pornography, (G) material or content (including music) that, in Sponsor’s sole determination, violates or infringes, or may violate or infringe, another’s rights, including, but not limited to, privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement, or (H) any images, artwork or depiction that personally identifies the Entrant, the Entrant’s child, favorite teacher(s), or any other person, without their prior written consent to use such image, artwork or depiction for purposes of the Submission. Submissions may not violate any applicable federal, state, or local laws or regulations in any way as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Submission that, in its sole opinion, does not comply with these requirements or these Official Rules. You do not need to include a depiction of a Rack Room Shoes shoe in your Submission in order to participate. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for this Contest. Limit 1 Submission per person. Sponsor is Rack Room Shoes, Inc., 8310 Technology Dr., Charlotte, NC 28262. Once submitted, Submissions become the exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be returned. For a copy of these Official Rules, print them from the Website.
Eligibility:
Open only to residents of AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, or WI, who are 18 years or older as of the date of entry. Employees, shareholders, officers and agents of Sponsor, or any of their respective affiliates or advertising agencies, and their immediate family members and persons residing in the same household of such employees are not eligible to enter or win this Contest. Prior winners of any Rack Room Shoes “Teacher of the Year Contest,” or their associated Eligible Schools that have received a grant, are not eligible to participate in this Contest or receive an additional grant.
Online Voting and Odds:
All eligible Submissions will appear on the Rack Room Shoes Teacher of the Year Contest page (the “Rack Room Shoes Teacher of the Year Contest Page”) beginning on or about March 9, 2026. Five (5) winning Submissions will be chosen from eligible posted Submissions by online voting. The online voting period for this Contest begins on March 9, 2026 at 12:00:01 AM ET and ends on March 27, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM ET (the “Voting Period”). During the Voting Period, Rack Room Shoes Teacher of the Year Contest Page visitors can vote for the Submission that they would like to see win the Grand Prize. Limit one vote per person per day (any violation of this rule or use of automated or fraudulent voting techniques including the use of voting brokers, voting farms, multiple accounts or other means to vote more than once per day may result in disqualification of such votes or disqualification of the Submission). The Top 5 Submissions that receive the most votes during the Voting Period will win a Grand Prize, as described below. In the event of a tie, the winning Submissions will be the Submissions among the tied Submissions which were submitted for the Contest first, in order of entry. If any potential winner(s) notification is returned as undeliverable, or if a potential winner(s) does not respond to initial notification within 5 days of the date of notification, prize will be forfeited and the Submission with the next highest votes total will be the winner(s). Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible Submissions received and the number of votes per Submission. Votes from “vote brokers”, “voting farms” and other similar vote accumulation schemes are strictly prohibited. Sponsor reserves the right to invalidate any and all votes that it determines in its sole discretion were purchased or submitted by or through a vote broker, vote farm or other vote accumulation scheme and/or to disqualify the applicable Submission.
Prize:
On or around April 27, 2026, Sponsor will award five (5) Grand Prizes, each consisting of the following: a School Innovation Grant of $10,000 from Rack Room Shoes for a broad range of educational advancements for the Eligible School identified in the winning entrant’s Submission (which may include, but is not limited to, technology upgrades, curriculum development, specialized training, and dynamic learning resources), and a $500 gift card to the favorite teacher identified in the winning entrant’s Submission. Total ARV of each Grand Prize: $10,500. If the school identified in an entrant’s Submission is not an Eligible School (as defined in Section 1 above), the Submission will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen. Entrants of each winning Submission will be notified by phone or e-mail and must execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release within 10 days of notification in order for the Grand Prize to be awarded. No prize substitutions or cash equivalent of prize is permitted except at Sponsor’s sole discretion, and then only for a prize of equal or greater value. Prizes are not transferable except that the school grant will be transferred directly to the Eligible School designated in the winning entrant’s Submission, and the $500 gift card will be transferred directly to the teacher designated in the winning entrant’s Submission. Sponsor will assume full responsibility for any and all taxes which may be levied on the grant portion of the Grand Prize. Winning entrants will incur no tax liability by virtue of the award of the grant portion of the Grand Prize, and winning entrants may not take as a tax deduction the value of the grant donated by Sponsor. Taxes and fees, if any, with respect to the $500 gift card are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Sponsor will coordinate the grant award with the Eligible School designated in the winning entrant’s Submission. In the event of noncompliance with any of these requirements, the prize will be forfeited and the Submission with the next highest votes will become an alternate winner. Unclaimed prizes may not be awarded.
General:
See Sponsor’s Privacy Policy for information about how Sponsor uses and stores entrants’ information. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and may result in disqualification. All entrants must agree: (a) that Submissions cannot be used by entrant (or others) for any commercial purpose other than to enter this Contest, (b) to be bound by these Official Rules, the Terms of Use of the Website, and by the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects, (c) to be contacted by Sponsor by mail, email or telephone in connection with the administration of this Contest, (d) to grant (and by submitting its Submission, entrant hereby irrevocably grants), to Sponsor an unconditional, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, exclusive, royalty-free, paid-up right and license to copy, post, display, publish, use, transmit, distribute, adapt, edit and/or modify Submission in any way, in any or all media, for any purpose, without limitation, and without consideration to entrant, and (e) that, except where prohibited by law, Sponsor may publish or incorporate winning entrant’s name and/or likeness, address (city and state only), and prize information, in any and all media now existing or hereafter devised for promotional or any other purpose whatsoever, without attribution, notification, compensation or consent. By participating, entrants and voters release Sponsor and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and consultants, from any and all liability for any injury, death, loss, tax liability or damage arising from their participation in this Contest, or resulting from acceptance, or enjoyment of the Grand Prize. Failure to comply with either these Official Rules or the Terms of Use of the Website may result in disqualification from this Contest or the disqualification of votes. Sponsor reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate this Contest in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired or if tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of this Contest. As a condition of entering this Contest, each entrant agrees that: (1) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for punitive, incidental, consequential, indirect or special damages, and any claims, judgments or awards for direct damages shall be limited to entrant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses; (2) all causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded in this Contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; and (3) in no event will any entrant and/or winner be entitled to receive attorneys’ fees. Sponsor is not responsible for: (i) late, delayed, incomplete, damaged, garbled, incomplete, misdirected, or lost entries, (ii) any human error, technical malfunctions, lost or delayed data transmission or any interruption of any computer equipment or software; or (iii) inability to access any website or online service (including, without limitation, the Website), or any other error or malfunction. In the event Sponsor cancels or suspends this Contest for technical reasons, Sponsor will award the prizes to the entrants submitting the Submissions with the most votes from all eligible Submissions received prior to the date of cancellation or suspension. Any attempt by any entrant to submit more than one Submission by using multiple/different identities, registrations or logins, or any other methods, will void that entrant’s Submissions, and all Submissions from the entrant may be disqualified. Any attempt by any voter to vote more than once per day by using multiple/different identities, registrations or logins, or any other methods, will void that voter’s votes, and that voter may be disqualified from voting and may disqualify the Submission he or she was voting for, in the Sponsor’s sole discretion. This Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of North Carolina. Entrants agree that any unsettled dispute relating in any manner to this Contest shall be individually resolved, without any form of class action, before a court located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. EACH ENTRANT EXPRESSLY AND IRREVOCABLY CONSENTS TO PERSONAL JURISDICTION IN THE STATE OR FEDERAL COURTS SITTING IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA.
Entrant Representations and Warranties:
By entering this Contest, entrant represents and warrants that (a) the Submission he/she submitted has not been previously published, and he/she has followed these Official Rules; (b) the Submission is his/her own original work or the entrant has obtained written permission from any and all photographers of the Submission to submit it for this Contest; (c) entrant has obtained written permission from any and all living persons shown or identified in the Submission to submit it for this Contest; (d) entrant has the right, power and authority to submit the Submission for this Contest and to grant Sponsor the unconditional and perpetual exclusive right and license to the Submission as described in these Official Rules; (e) entrant has not granted any rights in the Submission to any person or corporation; and (f) entrant shall indemnify and hold Sponsor and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and consultants harmless from and against any breach by entrant of these warranties or violation by entrant of these Official Rules.
Questions and Winners' List
Any questions, comments or complaints regarding this Contest should be directed to Sponsor. For the winning entrants’ names, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope postmarked by May 15, 2026, to: 2026 Rack Room Shoes Teacher of the Year, Attn: Brand Communications, 8310 Technology Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262, or visit www.rackroomshoes.com. Requests for winning entrants’ names will be fulfilled after the winning entrants have been verified.
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