2018 Student Voices Finalists

The SETDA Student Voices Award honors an outstanding K-12 school or district that has leveraged technology to dramatically improve the educational experiences and achievement of their students. Winners receive the Elsie Brumback Scholarship, which allows the winner to bring a team of students and educators to attend the annual SETDA Leadership Summit and tour Washington DC. SETDA also profiles the winning school/district at the Summit through presentations delivered by their students on stage in front of state and national education leaders. Please take a moment to view the Previous Winners.

2018 Support

Thank you to AT&T Aspire for underwriting the Student Voices 2018.AT&T invests in education and job training to create a skilled and diverse workforce that powers our country for the future. Technology is making it easier for everyone – regardless of age, gender, income or geography – to learn anytime, anywhere. Through the AT&T Aspire initiative, AT&T brings together the power of its network – its employees, its technology and organizations – to connect people to opportunities through education and job training. Since 2008, AT&T has committed $400 million to programs to help millions of students in all 50 states and around the world. Learn more at att.com/aspire.

2018 Finalists

WINNER: St. Albans City School, Vermont
St. Albans City School has been a one to one school, immersed in digital based, project-based learning for several years now. The latest initiative was a schoolwide, PreK to 8th grade, project-based learning unit around Economics, Community, and Business. Each team in the school was in charge of creating their own business with the following expectations: Business Plan, Safety Plan, Product, Packaging, Product Story, Logo, Jingle, Commercial, and a storefront. The school hosted a community night so families would be able to buy local student made gifts and most groups donated part of their proceeds to locale non-profits. Two groups sought to raise awareness around local environmental issues such as the pollution in St. Albans Bay and taking care of the local wetlands. Every team utilized digital tools to plan and execute their project and each group used the school’s Makerspace for at least one part of their project. Students even developed the project website. Most importantly, students are learning how to take the same skills they learned during this project and apply them in new ways to various content areas. St. Albans City School prides itself on the ability to provide a personalized learning experience for its students. Every student leaves with an electronic personalized learning plan that connects their learning to the state standards. Artifacts of learning can be anywhere from written work, to audio files, video files, and picture evidence. The high school has adapted the personalized learning plans to match the K-8 plans. https://fcsuvt.learning.powerschool.com/carling/sacsschoolmall/cms_page/view

FIRST RUNNER UP: Armorel High School, Arkansas
In the Armorel High School EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) class, students have made the idea of community a central concept. As students recognize problems within their communities, they form relationships based on shared interests with other students as well as community partners such as business owners, community leaders, civic groups, elected officials, nonprofit volunteers, and even school administrators. The use of cutting-edge technology available in the EAST classroom enhances student learning as well as project goals. The high school EAST students teach themselves how to use tools such as 3-D printers and state-of-the-art software for photography, design, video, music and virtual reality. Not only are the EAST project teams at Armorel High School helping their own community and the citizens in Mississippi County, they have also received national recognition for creating a 3D printed prosthetic foot for a local duck. https://twitter.com/EAST_Armorel

Finalists

• Effingham County CEO Program, Illinois
  Altamont, Beecher City, Dieterich , Effingham, and Teutopolis High Schools
  The Effingham County CEO started a program that has rapidly grown across our state. The overwhelming impact on their community has encouraged surrounding areas to duplicate the program. Programs are designed as county-wide outreach and have joined high schools within counties, breaking down barriers and local competition to really have pride in the community as a whole. The impact on teaching and learning has been tremendous and has allowed local businesses to really connect with students and encourage them to find their inner potential. As part of the CEO Program, over a course of a year, students write two business plans they present to bankers and investors where they have professionals critique and provide sound advice on how to move forward with starting their business. The feedback from Banker Day then leads into presenting at Shark Tank Day where students pitch their business ideas and exhibit their products and services to gain insight to perfect their business before the Trade Show. http://www.effinghamceo.com/
• Noblesville High School, Indiana
  Noblesville Schools has dropped traditional text books and added digital learning experiences like virtual field trips through VR, various Project Lead The Way projects, as well as projects that affect the community- like engaging with Habitat for Humanity house builds. Noblesville High School is a one-to-one iPad school, and does not restrict the use of these devices to classroom learning. In addition, the school district offers an Innovation and Open Source Learning class and the body of student work a national example of innovation and real-world application of student knowledge. The Innovation and Open Source Learning class stands out because the focus is truly on the process and product- and not the grade. The reflection and iterations that happen are a measure of growth- and not just a “final grade” for a singular project. In fact, one of the biggest reasons students give for “why” they take the class is to provide more mastery, autonomy, and purpose in their education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRoGNqKGnUw&t=535s
• Meadow Park Middle School, , Oregon
  In March of this year, a team of students from Meadow Park Middle School (in collaboration with our innovation team from the district) mentored administrators and superintendents from all over the Northwest at the first ever Conference of Oregon School Administrators Innovate conference. They guided administrators, many of whom had little to no experience programming or making robots, through a hands-on project-based learning (PBL) experience that involved coding, robotics, making, and creativity. This project is an example of many different PBL opportunities including involving 300 students in an empathy-centered design thinking project to solve a real-world problem in the school and create a prototype with 3D printers. One of our science classes is exploring science and math through the design and construction of electric cigar box guitars. Great test scores are the natural result and byproduct of thoughtful, relevant, and engaging learning. The students say it makes school far more engaging, more fun and interesting. Many students say they feel empowered, especially girls and students who would not normally have this feeling of empowerment. twitter.com/mpmseagles and https://vimeo.com/268417575