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Voting now open for St. Michael School's video

St. Michael School enters video for chance to win cash prize St.
St. Michael School enters video for chance to win cash prize
 
St. Michael School has entered a $200,000 USD national education contest hoping for a chance at one of the 19 prizes that will be awarded to recognize the most unique and inventive K-12 program. In addition to completing an online application for the annual Follett Challenge, St. Michael School also submitted a short video to promote its program that teaches students the 21st century skills they need to be prepared for life.
 
The video, shot and edited by teacher Judy Holyer, talks about the Deep Learning Lab at St. Michael School, noting the school is teaching students about six global competencies: collaboration, citizenship, critical thinking, creativity, character and communication.
The school developed its Deep Learning Lab to teach these competencies, and the lab is equipped with laptops, a 3-D printer, lazer cutter, wood-working equipment, video equipment and software and robotics equipment.
The equipment and software are used in class, and for the after-school robotics club and the Girls STEM club, which enables girls to experiment with technology, engineering and math in a safe and non-threatening environment.
 
St. Michael School’s video will be posted on the Follett Challenge website (www.follettchallenge.com) at the following link, viewable as of Jan. 20: http://follettchallenge.com/videos/1335
Ten of the prizes, valued at $5,000 each, to be given away are from the People’s Choice category and will solely be based on how many votes applicants have received for their videos from the public. Video voting begins on Monday, Jan. 20. 
After registering, users can cast one vote per day through Friday, Jan. 24, when voting ends. Not only are the public’s votes significant in the video-voting portion of the contest, but they also will play a role in the overall rubric as 20 per cent of each school’s final score is based on the number of votes generated for their video.
 
“We hope our community will support us by viewing our video and voting for our submission. Participating in the Follett Challenge recognizes our educators for the great job they are doing with the limited resources they have and, should we win, reward them with resources to do more,” said St. Michael principal Dean Loberg. “It also will give our educators here a platform to share their innovation with other schools across the country and throughout the world.”
With a total prize value of $200,000 USD in products and services from Follett – a global education solutions leader – the overall winner will earn a $30,000 USD prize. Each of the other eight semi-finalists will earn $15,000 USD prizes. The 10 People’s Choice awards are worth $5,000 each in products and services.
 
This year’s Follett Challenge will honor a total of nine semi-finalist winners, three winners in each of the following categories: elementary, middle and high school.
The judges will be seeking applications that illustrate critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration between students and among teachers and other members of the school staff. The winners of the 2020 Follett Challenge, including the grand prize winner, will be announced on Monday, March 23.