North Brandywine Middle-Schoolers Capture Prize At State Computer Fair

By Francine Fulton

North Brandywine Middle School students brought recognition to Chester County and the Coatesville Area School District (CASD) by capturing a third-place prize at the Pennsylvania Middle School Computer Fair held recently in Harrisburg. This is the first time North Brandywine students have earned a prize at the state level of the technology competition.

According to Donna Marie Binns, seventh-grade social studies teacher, students Nate Keegan, Collin McElroy and Jon Webster placed third in the state in the Web Site Design category. Other North Brandywine students who took part in the competition included Jessica Stanton and Nikki Singley, who competed in the Desktop Publishing category, and Mario Salgado and Amanda Gritz, who entered the Graphic Design competition.

Binns explained that to qualify for the state competition, the students first had to win at the school level at North Brandywine’s first ever Technology Fair held in February. Next, the students competed at the regional competition held at the Chester County Intermediate Unit in Downingtown.

“Out of all of Chester County (schools), we came first in Web Site Design, Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design, second in Logo Design and third in Multimedia,” Binns said. “All of the first-place winners went to states.”

The Pennsylvania Middle School Computer Fair is a student event that highlights computer technology integration within the middle school classroom and recognizes student achievement. The event is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Information and Educational Technology.

Participation in the Pennsylvania Middle School Computer Fair is open to any student in grades six through eight of a public or private school or a state-approved home-school program within Chester County. Each school is allowed only two projects per category.

Projects are scored based on the guideline rubrics for each category. Students were allowed to work individually or in groups of up to three students and had to work under the supervision of a faculty member or sponsor.

In addition to displaying their Web design, the students were also required to submit a project narrative, which is a summary that provided judges with any necessary background information students would like them to consider during the judging process.

“There were 200 kids, 60 school districts (represented) and more than 20 intermediate units (at states),” Binns said. “This is our third year going to states as the first-place (regional) winner in the Web Site Design category. This is also the first time we competed in other categories at states.”

The winning Web site, Binns noted, is about the Black Death epidemic that took place in Europe in the 14th century.

“We studied Black Death in our curriculum,” Binns said. “All of the projects must be curriculum-based. Technology is integrated into the social studies curriculum.”

People who would like to view the winning Web site design will be able to access it by visiting www.coatesville.k12.pa.us.

Binns noted that the students completed the Web site work in her classroom with the help of Don Messinger, CASD data specialist, and Abdallah Hawa, CASD technology director.

“The first year, it wasn’t as hard because we did the Web site in Microsoft Word,” she said. “The second year it was became difficult because I wanted it to very competitive. We used Web design software, and, in doing so, the kids learned to program, how to do HTML and go to the source and make changes.”

Binns said the students could not have succeeded without the help of the school district staff.

“Our school district technology department is very supportive in giving us the tools that we need and the support that we need to make this possible. We could not have done it without the technology department,” she said.

CAPTION:

Photo by Francine Fulton

Three students from North Brandywine Middle School, including (front, from left) Collin McElroy, Nate Keegan and Jon Webster, captured a third-place prize at the recent Pennsylvania Middle School Computer Fair held in Harrisburg. Also competing at the event were students (back) Nikki Singley, Mario Salgado, Jessica Stanton and Amanda Gritz, who were accompanied to the event by teacher Donna Marie Binns.

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