Happy New Year!
This past semester was full of new and unique experiences for participants in Center for 21st Century Skills programs!
Digital Media Movie Making (DM3)
The October 24th DM3 meeting at IBM hosted students and teachers from Hillhouse, Hill Regional Career, Metropolitan Business Academy, Woodland Regional, Bethel, New Canaan, Pomperaug, Thomaston, and Terryville high schools. Students worked in groups in order to brainstorm a film using Make-a-Movie cards. Students took the opportunity to work with peers from different schools around Connecticut. During the lunch break, each filmmaker had the chance to enter the "15-second Film Challenge". Using MacBooks loaded with PhotoBooth, participants were challenged to create a film only 15 seconds in length. C21 staff chose three finalists whose entries were shown to all DM3 participants. Prizes were awarded to the winning film. Kudos to all who stepped up to the challenge!
DM3 program participants met again on December 19 at Quinnipiac University. Students from Hillhouse, Hill Regional Career, Metropolitan Business Academy, Woodland Regional, Bethel, Pomperaug, Thomaston, Terryville, Simsbury, and Kennedy high schools participated in breakout sessions including Creative Storytelling, Multimedia, Marketing, Producing, Lighting and Camera, Editing, and Journalism. Many workshops were facilitated by Quinnipiac professors, who gave students new and unique perspectives on the film industry. Students enjoyed a pizza lunch provided by the university. Lost and Found Productions from Bethel High School received the award for Outstanding Animated Logo based on their short 3D animation, which was created using the free, open-source software Blender.
Bio21
Bio21 students from Pomperaug, East Haven, Metropolitan Business Academy, and Bethel high schools met on December 13 at University of New Haven. They conducted an ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) Lab designed to simulate the diagnosis of Lyme Disease. The Lyme ELISA assay is designed to detect the presence of antibodies specific for the Lyme disease bacterium. Students also pitched their project plans and enjoyed a fascinating presentation on biomimicry by Vincent Pieribone, Ph.D., Associate Fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory and Associate Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology and Neurobiology at Yale.
E-Commerce Entrepreneurship (ECE)
On December 20, 2011 students from East Haven, Metropolitan Business Academy, Terryville, Pomperaug, Stonington, Windsor Locks, and Farmington high schools gathered at Quinnipiac University for the first ECE meeting. The morning kicked off with a presentation from entrepreneur Thomas Capone. Capone encouraged students to continually move forward and find a career in a field they enjoy. His motivational keynote started the day on a perfect note.
Students then participated in breakout sessions such as how to put together a business plan, effective presentations, and break-even analysis led by Quinnipiac professors from the School of Business. Like the DM3 students, ECE students were also given a tour of the beautiful Quinnipiac campus by current undergraduates then treated to a pizza lunch. We wrapped up the day with a staff favorite, the Marshmallow Challenge. Each group came up with some innovative and sturdy structures. Congratulations to our first and second place groups from Pomperaug and Terryville high schools!
One semester down, one to go! The CT Innovation Expo is right around the corner—May 19, 2012, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Stay tuned to see some more amazing student work!
