TEN TRI-STATE AREA SCHOOLS

TO RECEIVE THE FIRST ANNUAL

JPMORGAN CHASEMULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM” AWARDS,

FRIDAY, MARCH 24

AT THE CELEBRATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Westchester, New Jersey, Long Island, And Albany County Students And Teachers Recognized for Innovative Classroom Projects

Using blogs, GPS technology, video, Flash animation, iMovie software, and other technologies, 10 teams of students and teachers from across the tri-state area have created innovative, multimedia-based projects that enhance learning in the K-12 curriculum.  On Friday, March 24, at the kick-off ceremony for the Celebration of Teaching and Learning, these teams and their schools – from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester and Albany Counties – will receive the first annual JPMorgan Chase “Multimedia in the Classroom” Awards and a $1,000 cash prize from JPMorgan Chase, Founding Sponsor of the Celebration of Teaching and Learning. 

In addition, they will receive full access to all programs offered at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning.  This unprecedented, two-day conference for tri-state teachers, parents, students, administrators, policy makers, business leaders, and others who support education is hosted by Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21.

“Just viewing the 10 projects is ample evidence that there is no shortage of creativity, imagination and knowledge in our classrooms,” Kimberly B. Davis, president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, said.  “Whether the students were using media and the Web to illuminate history and mythology, document a clothing drive by autistic students, demonstrate science projects, or describe community life in post-9/11 New York, each project became memorable through communication technology.”

“Just as public television did in its nascent years, multimedia allows us to learn in ways we never before imagined,” added William F. Baker, chief executive of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21.  “We applaud the JPMorgan Chase Awards program for helping to inspire fresh new approaches to the discovery of knowledge in the classroom.  As these winning projects demonstrate, astonishing things can happen when students take learning into their own hands.”

            The winning projects were selected from a diverse group of nearly 70 submissions from throughout the region.  They include:

  • McSweeney Occupational Training Center, Bronx: “How to Hold a Clothing Drive” – seven students with autism held a clothing drive, took pictures and used iMovie to create a documentary film which included creation of their own soundtrack.
  • Marymount School, Manhattan:Chemical Reactions with Flash Animation” –honors chemistry students used Flash animation software to learn about and create tutorials on collision theory and chemical reactions.
  • Woodhull School, Fire Island Union Free School District: “GPS Technology” – Sixth graders learned about satellite transmission technology, geocaches and “travel bugs” – and gained cross-cultural awareness – through the use of GPS technology.

·          I.S. 62 Ditmas, Brooklyn: “What’s In a Name?” – Students documented their research

on the slavery era and the origin of their school’s name with audio and visual clips.

·          Elisabeth Morrow School, Englewood, NJ: “Revolutionary War Video” – Students and teachers produced a video to make a textbook history lesson come alive with an original script, props and costumes.

·          Guilderland High School, Guilderland Center, NY: “Motivation” – Journalism students used wide-screen videography they shot on a field trip to New York City to report on community life after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

·          Farragut Middle School, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY:Colonial Blog” – seventh grade social studies students assumed the identities of colonists and researched historical data to learn about the events preceding the Revolutionary War. 

·          Townsend Harris High Schools, Flushing: “Pandora’s Box” – Alexandra Stergiou, a student of Classical Greek, produced, scripted, cast, directed, and edited a short video to research and interpret the fabled myth.

·          P.S. 108Q, South Ozone Park: “Me? Live with Lions?” – Students were responsible for all aspects of a Web Quest project, from page layout and design to graphics, music, and original artwork.

·          The Theatre Arts Production Co. School, Bronx: “How to Use the Laptops” – In response to computer misuse at school, eighth graders produced an amusing video to teach students and teachers how to use the laptop cart in the classroom.

The JPMorgan Chase “Multimedia in the Classroom” Awards are part of Thirteen’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning, a landmark two-day event featuring seminars with renowned experts, hands-on workshops, a town hall meeting, performances, an exhibition of education products and services, and more.  Scheduled guests include journalists Tom Brokaw and Gwen Ifill, author and teacher Frank McCourt and actor Richard Dreyfuss.

For more information about the Celebration of Teaching and Learning, log on to www.thirteencelebration.org. 

 

About Educational Broadcasting Corporation

Educational Broadcasting Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is the parent company of public broadcasters Thirteen/WNET New York and WLIW21 New York. Thirteen is America’s most-watched public television station and WLIW21 has the fourth-largest public television audience in the nation. Both stations are major producers of programming for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) seen on public television stations across the country. In addition to its well-known analog channels, EBC is the provider of a number of digital public television services, including Thirteen HD, Thirteen World, Kids Thirteen, WLIW Create, and Thirteen On Demand.  EBC also creates, manages and distributes a wide range of educational outreach and online programs, projects and services that extend the power and relevance of public television programming at the local, national and international levels. More information about Thirteen and WLIW is available at www.thirteen.org and www.wliw.org.

 

April 6, 2006 

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