District 97 Schools Earn Top Awards in Global Virtual Classroom Contest

Students from Percy Julian Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School and Mann Elementary School competed in the 2013 Global Virtual Classroom Contest, which is a free online collaborative learning project that fosters creativity, cross cultural understanding and helping others; provides children with the opportunity to use research, writing and communication skills; and teaches IT and Web site design skills to students from around the world. The student teams who participated had their entries judged on a number of criteria, including content, presentation, collaboration and a helping focus. The helping focus encourages students to demonstrate achievement of a helpful objective such as personal, social and/or environmental responsibility, or support for a worthy cause.

The district's student teams received four awards this year, including:

Primary School Team Winners

• Julian Middle School’s seventh graders won the grand prize for the site Heal the World. The class partnered on the project with students from Hungary and India. The teacher leader for the team was Adrienne Court.

• Lincoln Elementary School’s fifth graders won third prize for the site A Look into Technology. The class partnered on the project with students from Connecticut and Taiwan. The teacher leader for the team was Matt Kuntz.

• Mann Elementary School’s fifth graders won a merit award for academic excellence for the site Mythstronomy 101: the Earthling's Guide to the Universe. The class that worked on the site partnered on the project with students from Cote d'Ivory and Taiwan, and was led by teacher Cristen Vincent.

Secondary School Team Winners

• Julian Middle School’s eighth graders won third prize for the site School Dinners = Nutrition + Healthy Eating. The class partnered on the project with students from the Czech Republic and Missouri. The teacher leader for the team was Adrienne Court.

Since 2005, District 97 has won nine grand prize awards, five second place awards, five third place awards and 14 special merit awards in the competition.