Red Cloud Elementary School students earn first-place awards at technology conference

Middle school students earn most first-place finishes in the state of South Dakota

posted on April 13, 2011

Red Cloud Elementary School students in the Media Fair Club accepted awards at the 12th Annual South Dakota State-wide Student Fair on April 4, 2011. The fair was part of the 25th Annual Technology and Innovation in Education (TIE) Conference in Rapid City, South Dakota. Four students earned first-place awards, the highest amount of award winning entries for a middle school in South Dakota.

“The State Media Fair is a way for educators to see what the students are really creating with the latest technologies,” says Carol Krotz, a provider of Title I services at Red Cloud through the Shannon County school system. “This year carries on a long tradition of successful entries from Red Cloud students.”

Student award winners were:

• Isabelle Rodriguez, who took first-place in the fifth grade computer art division
• Jacob Cousin, who took first-place in the seventh grade computer art division
• Tycara Crazy Thunder, who took first place in the fifth grade photography division
• Leannah Vitalis, who took first place in the seventh grade photography division
• Miranda O’Donnell, who received an honorable mention in the photography division

The student winners attended the conference with their sponsors, Jackie Freeman and Carol Krotz. Fifth grader Lessanes Goings and seventh grader Matagi I’atala also attended the conference.

“It was pretty exciting and awesome to see and experience all the new technology that is out there,” says O’Donnell, a seventh grader. “My favorite part was playing this learning game against my classmates on the computer.

Krotz says the students are already excited for next year’s competition. “They are already planning projects!”