GVC CONTEST 2008/09 Award-Winning Websites Announced
May 1, 2009 - After working together for the last 6 months, approximately 2100 students from 75 schools, representing 23 countries around the world unveiled their websites as part of the GVC Contest 2008/09. Today, contest winners in both the primary and secondary school categories have been announced.
With subjects that range from wildlife education and conservation to cultural comparisons of their respective countries, and from clean water, pollution, and climate change to music around the world, sites from participating teams show the kind of creativity that can come from putting students from different cultures together in a collaborative endeavor Their efforts were judged for content, presentation, collaboration, and new this year, a helping focus. The helping focus was added to encourage students to also demonstrate achievement of a helpful objective such as personal, social and/or environmental responsibility or support for a worthy cause.
This year's Grand Prize winner for the primary school category is "The School of Kindness" designed by students from Ein Ganim School in Petach Tikva, Israel; Harrison Elementary School in Warsaw, Indiana, USA; and Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. Their website promotes kindness and shows ways to help people all over the world through stories, fables, and images created by the students of the three schools.
The Second Place winner in the primary school category is the "Walk on the Wild Side" website presented by Reservoir Middle School in Newport News, Virginia, USA; Gymnasia #57 in Kurganskaya Oblast, Russia; and Epiphany Cathedral School in Venice, Florida, USA.
In Third Place of the primary schools is "Our Global Rainbow: Looking Beyond the Colors" from Topa Topa Elementary School, Ojai, California, USA; Lahore American School, Canal Bank, Lahore, Pakistan; and St. Therese School in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
The secondary school category's Grand Prize winner is the "World of Water" created by C S Ramachary Memorial Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India; Athens District High School in Athens, Ontario, Canada; and Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. This team created a very educational and interactive site complete with compelling original artwork on the current issues related to water usage and pollution.
The Second Place winner for the secondary school category is the "Friendship Bridges Gallery" created by Warrandyte High School of Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia; Wako Kokusai High School in Saitama, Japan; and Municipal Educational Establishment Secondary School #11 of Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Third Place is awarded to Philippine Science High School of Quezon City, Philippines; and Littleton High School from Littleton, Colorado, USA for their website about "Sustainable Development."
Certificates of participation are awarded to all students. Plaques and cash awards are presented to the schools of the winning teams. The Grand Prize award is $3,000 for the winning primary school team and $3,000 for the secondary school team. The second place award is $1,500 for each winning team and the third place award is $750 to each team.
JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell, the Chairman and one of the co-founders of the Give Something Back International Foundation said, "Beyond the impressive accomplishments of the website projects, we are thrilled that the teams also found ways to give back to their schools, fellow students, and their communities in very meaningful ways."
AT&T Supports Global Virtual Classroom Program
A global collaborative learning program for primary and secondary school students
Dallas, Texas, Sept. 9, 2008 - AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced a $50,000 contribution to support the Global Virtual Classroom (GVC) - a free online collaborative learning project that fosters teamwork, creativity, cross cultural understanding and teaches IT and website design skills amongst students working together from around the world.
Sponsored by the Give Something Back International Foundation (GSBI), and now in its sixth year, the GVC provides an opportunity for primary and secondary school students from different countries to work with and learn from students in other countries, as they collaboratively design a website on a topic of their choosing.
Commenting on the 2008/9 program, JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell, Chairman and one of the co-founders of the GSBI Foundation said, "It is very exciting for us to have the support of AT&T, a global company deeply committed to youth education, and to providing services that connect people with each other and with the information they need. This is a great match that will benefit the students working together from their many countries, and allow us to expand and enhance the program. Over the years, we have had approximately 29,000 students and 1,300 teachers participate from over 500 schools from 50 countries."
Each GVC team consists of three primary or three secondary schools from different countries. Once the teams have completed their planning work and designed their websites, a panel of international judges evaluates the final work products and determines the winners. Plaques and cash awards are presented to the schools of the winning teams and each student receives a certificate of participation. The Grand Prize award is $3,000 for the winning primary school team and $3,000 for the winning secondary school team. The second place award is $1,500 for each winning team and the third place award is $750 to each team.
More details of the GVC program, the schedule, and the due dates as well as a copy of the online application can be found at www.VirtualClassroom.org.
Online applications will be accepted through September 26th, at which time teams of three schools from different countries will be formed and start to work together on their websites. Beyond the accomplishment of the website projects, these teams will learn how to collaborate across cultures and form new, first-hand understandings and friendships with those from different lands.
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