Paddock presenting ‘Living History’ project at Capitol

Stuart R. Paddock School in Palatine is one of 70 Illinois schools sending students to participate in the annual TECH 2012 “Students for the Information Age” event on Wednesday, May 2, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield.

TECH 2012 is a not-for-profit initiative presented by Illinois Computing Educators (ICE), and is supported by a broad range of education and business organizations. The purpose of TECH 2012 is to raise awareness of the critical role technology plays in preparing students to succeed in today’s world, and to show the need for increased funding for classroom technology.

Throughout the event, students will demonstrate for lawmakers and the public the creative ways technology is being used to enhance and accelerate student achievement in Illinois schools today. For instance, Paddock’s team—which is comprised of fourth graders Emily Brinckerhoff, Morgan Fischer, and Charlie Hopper, and is sponsored by Jill Schwartzers, Paddock’s learning resource center teacher—will be presenting a projected titled Living History: An Intergenerational Journey.

For this project, the students meet monthly with a resident of the nearby Tamarack senior living community to learn about their senior buddy’s childhood. Through these monthly get-togethers, the students learned about many historical events, and used that information to create a multi-media digital biography about their senior buddy.

It is important for students to present projects such as this at TECH 2012 because it promotes awareness of the central role technology has come to play in schools, and thereby generates support for adequate technology funding.

-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15