District Five school receives statewide award for ‘technology in education’ program

IRMO, SC – A Lexington-Richland District Five elementary school has received a statewide award for “excellence in the integration of technology in education.”

Ballentine Elementary School received the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology (SCAET) Innovative Programs Award during this year’s SC Educational Technology Conference Oct. 21-23. SCAET created the award to honor best practices for integrating technology in the classroom. The award was presented to Ballentine Elementary computer lab assistants John Kawamoto and Sabrina Martin for their leading role in implementing a semester-long coding lesson for fourth and fifth grade students at the school.

“What an honor to have Mr. Kawamoto and Ms. Martin on staff. Their recognition is well-deserved,” said Ballentine Elementary Principal Robin Bright. “I am thrilled that we are able to introduce skills that help lay the foundation for future coding studies. By starting this at a young age, we are able to spark an interest that we hope will grow and develop as the students progress through school.”

At Ballentine Elementary, Kawamoto and Martin collaborated to develop a pilot computer science curriculum called “Creative Classroom Coding.” The pair said students in the pilot classes were able to use the skills and confidence gained by the introductory course to expand on project-based learning activities and integrate computer coding into other courses.

Ballentine Elementary computer lab assistants John Kawamoto and Sabrina Martin with District Five Coordinator of Instructional Technology Jenny Garris.

Using sites like code.org and existing technology at Ballentine Elementary School, students learned the basics of coding and computer science through games and activities. Certificates of completion were given to the students at the end of the course.

“We did our pilot program last year, which has let us roll it out to third through fifth grades this year, and it’s amazing,” Martin said of the program that earned the SCAET award. “The students are fearless, they soak it up and they love it. That to me is the real reward, being able to just teach them something that they love. They are learning a lot more than coding.”

Kawamoto said, “For me, the award made me reflect on how fortunate I am to be at Ballentine Elementary, where the administration and faculty look at us not just as support personnel but as colleagues and fellow educators…And I think that comes from the top down, from the district down to the schools. When we presented this idea, because of the attitude in the district, we had every confidence that we could present this and it be looked at seriously. And they did. They followed up, and said give it a try.”

The EdTech conference is held annually by the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology, which represents multiple public and private partners. Organizers hope the annual event will promote the use of educational technology to enhance student learning.

“South Carolina schools continue to lead the way in educational technology and high quality work, both of which are exhibited by this year’s winning programs,” said Jami C. Boone, EdTech executive director. “The mission of EdTech is to bring educators, administrators, technology professionals, college faculty and staff, public and academic librarians, business and industry trainers, industry representatives and policy makers together to think, discuss, listen and learn the best strategies to plan for, implement, and use educational technology in our schools.”