APS students and sponsors finish first in international media competition

Students from Atlanta Public Schools earned a record number of awards at this year’s International Student Media Festival competition.  Of the 32 projects submitted by APS students at the state level, 18 were judged “Outstanding” and advanced to the international competition, where they each earned the “Excellence in Media Production” award.

Three projects from that group—Toomer’s Garden (Toomer Elementary), My Dog Nika (Bolton Academy), and Stop, Thief! (D.H. Stanton)—received the ISMF’s coveted “Judges’ Favorite Award.”

Imani Bostic - Excellence in Media Production and Judges' Favorite, Stanton Elementary

 The ISMF celebrates teachers and students across the globe who work together to incorporate media production into the learning landscape. The festival accepts projects from students enrolled in public and private school in grades K-12. 

The Association for Educational Communication and Technology—the organization that sponsors the ISMF—believes that student media projects such as website design, live action video, animation and video presentations promote learning across the curriculum by developing reading comprehension, writing and math skills.  And through its use of computers, video, sound and imagery, student created media is a proven approach to increasing student participation in the classroom.  Accordingly, ISMF encourages teachers and students to regard media production as an alternative to paper and pencil for students to communicate what they are learning.  It honors students who have demonstrated that they are effective communicators who are successfully utilizing the power of media production.  

Projects for the 2011 ISMF were submitted in May and judged over the summer. This year’s festival will take place in November in Jacksonville, FL, and participants of all ages will have a chance to participate in highly rated workshops on digital photography, digital storytelling, broadcasting, animation and the lasted media production tools.   The festival will also offer a Student Producer Showcase and an Awards Ceremony, during which time organizers will publicly acknowledge the students who earned awards of excellence for their projects, their schools and sponsors. 

By submitting projects to the Georgia Student Media Festival and the ISMF, APS students had an opportunity to show others how much they are motivated and empowered to learn through media creation.  “I am extremely proud of all the APS student producers and the media specialists and teachers who sponsored them,” said APS media coordinator, Warren Goetzel.

“The award winning projects exemplify the mission of the school library program where students are empowered to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information.”

Eighteen of the 32 state competition-winning projects submitted by APS students (in collaboration with