November 26, 2024

 

An extra project in media class turned into national recognition for students at Engleman Elementary.

 

Graphic designers in the making, fifth graders Jordan Newman and Zayden Wilbeck both won grand prizes in Wixie’s Thanksgiving eCard Contest. Fellow Engleman fifth grader Madelyn Sloan was also recognized with honorable mention.

 

Wixie is an education software platform where students can create through art, voice, video and writing. Grand Island Public Schools media teachers use the platform in their classes. 

 

Jordan, Zayden and Madelyn were surprised with the news during morning assembly on Nov. 22.

 

“I was just overjoyed,” Jordan said about finding out he won the grand prize, along with Zayden. 

 

The contest was presented to students as a fast finisher project, something extra for students to better hone their digital skills when they finished their classwork. Media teacher Chandra Kosmicki said about 25 of her students chose to put in extra work outside of class to participate in the contest. 

 

The goal of the contest was to have students showcase their digital skills using Wixie. Students had to incorporate a theme related to Thanksgiving, of thankfulness and gratitude.

 

“I started off with a fall background and looked for an animated sticker that I thought would go well with it,” Zayden said about his design process.

 

Kosmicki’s media class exposes students to new opportunities in the ever changing world of technology. 

 

“We of course learn keyboarding, but we also learn how to use lots of different programs like Google docs,” Jordan said. “I like to just make slideshows about things I like, and I've gotten good at using all the different tools,” he said.

 

Kosmicki said her class follows the Nebraska tech standards and incorporates lots of multimedia technology and computer science. For example, she incorporates coding using small robots. 

 

“I really like to focus on having students create,” Kosmicki said. “And realizing that technology is something you can create with, not just something you consume,” she added.

 

Digital citizenship and how to behave online is also a big part of Kosmicki’s class. She said each year, her students come in with more foundational skills than before. 

 

With the eCard contest being one example, Kosmicki said it’s important that students know how to use technology for good, how to keep themselves safe online, and how to be a good person.

 

“Technology is part of their [kids’] lives,” Kosmicki said. “I just really want them to know it's not just a textbook, it's not just a typing document, it's not just watching videos. You can make and create things with technology — I want them to understand how powerful that is.”

 

See the winning submissions, here.