The Clarke Central High School Teen Tech Team will present information and activities about technology with the community during Teen Tech Week. Each student will share their “passion project,” displaying their individualized skills and interests. “Teen Tech Week allows for students throughout the community to see new things that are out there, to get excited about them, but also focus on what’s important to teens,” Instructional Technology Specialist Carrie Siegmund said. Photo by Sophie Fernandes
By GRACE POLANECZKY – Staff Writer
During Teen Tech Week 2015, Clarke Central High School Students will be able to discover new kinds of technology through the work of their peers.
This year, the Clarke Central High School Teen Tech Team and other schools around the country will celebrate Teen Tech Week for the second time, an event started by the Young Adult Libraries Association allowing students to celebrate and learn about new technology in their community and beyond.
CCHS is participating in the annual event a week earlier than most other places in the country so that it does not coincide with spring break. The event will be held in the CCHS Media Center during lunch Mon. March 2 through Fri. March 6. The YALSA’s 2015 theme “Libraries are for Making,” aims to demonstrate the value of libraries as communities by “offering teens a space to extend learning beyond the classroom where they can explore, create and share content,” according to the Teen Tech Week website.
In addition to activities like playing vintage video games, testing out new gadgets and learning how to use HTML, the Teen Tech Team also plan on using the event as an opportunity to share their individual “passion projects” with other students.
“In the spring we decided to have the Tech Team do something called a passion project, something closer to their interests but can also benefit the school,” said Clarke County School District Instructional Technology Specialist Carrie Siegmund. “We thought we’d tie it in with Teen Tech Week because it could also be where they showcased their stuff.”
Each day of the week will have a theme such as retro, video and film or “green tech.” After students determined their project ideas, the Tech Team based the days’ themes accordingly.
“Our Techs have picked something that they’re passionate about and they are going to present on that in many different forms,” said Siegmund. “For example, one of our students is passionate about music production and so he’s going to make a soundtrack for our ‘retro tech’ day.”
Although other things are still in the planning phase, students’ projects will be a big aspect of what goes on throughout the week, making the Teen Tech Week experience at CCHS unique.
“It’s a time when people can come in, play, learn, and a lot of times it’s hard to schedule that throughout the year,” said Siegmund. “To give it a designated week lets the kids put their work out there.”
