École Willow Point Elementary needs your vote.
The school’s Grade 3 to 5 students have submitted a video into the Follett Challenge.
It’s a school library-based competition that showcases innovative teaching.
Follett Learning, a company that delivers library services, is behind the challenge.
“The challenge is to help librarians and schools showcase the projects that they are doing to help students become 21st-century learners,” explained Ecole Willow Point teacher-librarian, Lila Armstrong.
Armstrong said the challenge offers a chance to win funds for the school library. The 10 videos with the most votes will receive the People’s Choice Award of $5,000 each.
“We need as many votes as we can get, to show Follett that our community supports school libraries,” she added.
École Willow Point’s entry is called ‘Battle of the Books Goes Digital.’
It’s a technological twist on the Battle of the Books contest that has been running in the district for many years.
“This year, École Willow Point has taken the project digitally, so students are using Office 365 to make powerpoints and to work collaboratively with their team so that they can start to become good digital learners,” she added.
Armstrong said it’s been an eye-opening experience: “The kids are so excited to be using the library in a new way and I’m having a really fun time teaching them some new skills, and we’re just really having a good time with this together, all of us.”
‘Battle of the Books Goes Digital’ advocates for responsible screen time, according to Armstrong: “I really believe that screen time should be limited, but with this project, the kids are learning that technology is a tool and not a toy, and these are skills that they will need when they move up into middle and high school in their lives. So if we learn how to use it (technology) properly, now, I think that it’s setting the groundwork for kids to become good digital citizens.”
Submissions were open to K-12 schools in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Voting started on Monday and runs until Thursday.
You can view the Ecole Willow Point entry and vote for the school by clicking here.
Armstrong said this project is a chance for the community to see what’s happening inside school walls.
“This is an interesting way to open the doors of learning,” she said.
