New generation wins prize money in digital media contest sponsored by Colorado Mountain College
Nine local high school and middle school students learned recently that they had won a share of more than $2,000 in prize money for successfully competing in a digital media contest. The contest was sponsored by Colorado Mountain College’s newly launched Isaacson School for New Media.
Projects submitted to the contest, which was organized by Dr. Rick Johnson, an instructional chair at CMC, and Steve Kaufman, executive director of the Calaway Opportunity Project, were presented at Roaring Fork High School. The projects were judged by a panel affiliated with the Isaacson School: Johnson, Kaufman and Michael Conniff, CEO of Post Time Media.
The winners and the schools they represented were Jack Tze Chieh Wang, Aspen High School; Louis Guinto, Roaring Fork High School; Liam Kelly, Bridges High School; Kira Willis, Glenwood Springs High School; Jimmy Serrano, Carbondale Middle School; and Jack Huggard, Christian Joya, Daniel Yoshimura and Michael Yoshimura, Basalt Middle School.
Seven of the students – Huggard, Joya, Kelly, Serrano, Willis, and Daniel and Michael Yoshimura – demonstrated their projects at the Isaacson School Dedication Day in Aspen July 18. Kelly and Willis also participated in a panel discussion with Walter Isaacson and others, on the topic of the future of new media.
Honoring creativity, technology
In the panel discussion Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute, best-selling author, former CEO of CNN and editor of TIME magazine, and namesake of the Isaacson School, spoke of the importance of connecting creativity, technology and business. “There’s a new ethos: Let’s honor creativity,” he said. “We have to find a new way to connect people with new information, with innovative and valuable content.”
Willis, who will be a sophomore this fall, drew head nods from fellow panel members when she said, “Technology is art. It’s a different kind of art. The possibilities are endless.”
This was the first of many anticipated annual contests from the Isaacson School for New Media to demonstrate both the importance of new media and the program’s intention of becoming first choice for traditional-age and mid-career students. “The new media presentations and contests are just some of the many ways that the Isaacson School for New Media will be listening and bringing together students, faculty and community in learning how to communicate and do business in the 21st century,” said CMC’s Johnson.