Students and Teachers Learn Together in Adobe Youth Voices Tech Teams
This is an Adobe Youth Voices Podcasting Tech Team class at PSESD. Those students talking into the microphones are first graders. The lyricists? High school students. The teachers, who are working with groups of four students from their own classrooms, are learning as much as the students; not only the technical skills but also the instructional skills to use the technology to create meaningful projects in their classrooms. The Tech Team strand is one of four that make up the Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) series. This partnership between Puget Sound ESD and the Adobe Corporation seeks to show teachers how to use digital storytelling tools including video, art, animation and audio in their classrooms to encourage students to use these tools to express their unique voice and create with purpose. The Adobe Youth Voices program includes four strands: beginning tool courses, mini-project courses, 30-hour summer institutes and the tech team courses in which teachers bring student teams into a PSESD classroom to learn and share in a cooperative environment. Tech team students, many of whom have been chosen from at-risk populations, learn how to express themselves through new technology. When they return to their classrooms, they are now “tech experts” and are in a unique position to teach the skills they’ve learned to their classmates, gaining benefits that reach far beyond improving technical skills. Back in the tech team podcasting class, each project is showcased upon completion. The younger students jump out of their seats and boast when their claymation video of popping popcorn is shown. The teenagers smile and joke with each other when their musical pieces and news announcements are aired. Students and teachers learn how to use a wide range of skills in the tech team strand, said Alison Uuereb, a teacher at Clover Park School District’s Dower Elementary. She recently completed a digital photo story workshop with six of her first and second grade students. “They learned how to scan illustrations, practiced reading with expression, and learned how to develop a character using their voice. After recording the story, students needed to choose appropriate background sounds to connect with the theme and plot of the story,” Uuereb explained. “Most importantly, students worked on communication and teamwork to put together a finished project. Next week, my first graders will be teaching the fourth graders how to create photo stories,” she added. The ways in which students use these skills are educational in their own right. In the podcasting class, a second-grader created a podcast message to his father, currently stationed in Japan. “I used to send cassette tapes to my dad, who was also stationed in Japan when I was your age,” commented AYV instructor Conn McQuinn, noting that while the need to communicate may be the same now as it was then, the form and method of communications have vastly changed. Thirteen Adobe Youth Voices opportunities, in three of the four strands, will take place this summer, including three mini-project courses and six summer institutes. Tech Team classes will be offered again in the fall. Through a generous grant from the Adobe Foundation, courses are offered at a deeply discounted price and include a textbook and lunch. View all upcoming Adobe Youth Voices courses on our classes page. Audio Podcasts from Alison Uuereb's 1st and 2nd Grade Students For more information, contact Janet Hinrichs at 425-917-7930, 253-778-7930, 1-800-664-4549, x7930, or jhinrichs@psesd.org. .
Auburn's Lori Sanford Named OSPI's School Employee of the Year
State Superintendent Randy Dorn recognized the eight Regional Classified School Employees of the Year and announced Lori Sanford as the State Classified School Employee of the Year at a ceremony on April 28th in the Old Capitol Building in Olympia. “Lori and all of the regional finalists demonstrate what a difference an individual can make in their school, district and community,” Dorn said. “Their commitment to our kids has not wavered. Despite the significant challenges facing education and our state, Lori and her colleagues continue keep the big picture in view and always put our students first. They are examples for us all.” Sanford and her fellow regional finalists were joined by their families, friends, colleagues, and representatives from the state’s educational service districts and various education associations. Sanford first walked through the doors at Lea Hill as the parent of a kindergartener in 1982. She quickly became an indispensible parent volunteer in the library, the resource room, on the PTA and on district committees. In 1992 Sanford joined the staff at Lea Hill, where she has remained for the past 18 years as the office manager. She is hailed by her colleagues as a “true professional,” the “poster person for efficiency” and “the heart and soul of Lea Hill Elementary.” In addition to managing the office, she supervises most of the school communication materials including the monthly newsletter, large sections of the school website, the weekly bulletin to staff and the reader board outside of the school. Sanford also works closely with Principal Ed Herda in what he calls a “high functioning team.” She tackles administrative duties such as monitoring the budget and organizing class coverage to ensure that Herda spends as much time as possible acting as an instructional leader. “Everything (Lori) does contributes to our primary goal – increase student achievement,” Herda said. “She treats all patrons with respect. She helps me keep things in perspective. Her positive and professional attitude is a constant reminder for me to do the same, even on tough days.” For more information, contact Jane Robb-Linse at (425) 917-7855, (253) 778-7855 or jrobb@psesd.org.
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Entering the classroom, you notice a flurry of excitement. Pairs of students are taking turns recording stories into a microphone. Others huddle together to write lyrics. More students take turns creating colorful clay sculptures that will soon come alive in claymation videos. Teachers move about the students conferring with each group on their projects. 
Lori Sanford, the office manager at Lea Hill Elementary School in the Auburn School District, is the 2010 Washington State Classified School Employee of the Year. In February, she was named PSESD's Regional Classified School Employee of the Year.