Students get their tech on at STLP State Championship

More than 5,000 students filled the Lexington Convention Center April 22 for the Student Technology Leadership Program’s annual state championship. The day was packed with competitions involving coding challenges, robotics design and programming, entrepreneurial tech startup business plans, networking challenges, aviation technology, digital game and app design challenges

It’s always fun for me to watch students working up a sweat playing Just Dance and learning about art technology in the technology playground staffed by students from Fayette County.

New STLP coordinator Jeff Sebulsky said the project showcase is the biggest event. Students are asked to define a problem or need within their school or community, collaborate to use the best available resources, put their solutions into practice ad then present their project to a group of judges. One of this year’s winners, he said, developed technology to assist emergency management divisions in their community and now that model is being adopted by emergency personal in other states.

“It’s so much fun seeing thousands of kids being leaders and demonstrating their command of so many real world technology skills.  I gained an even stronger appreciation of great ground work done by my predecessor, Elaine Harrision Lane, to make STLP the opportunity it is for Kentucky’s students,” Sebulsky said.

He also credited the work of volunteers from the Kentucky Department of Education, districts, colleges and universities, including the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Northern Kentucky University and Eastern Kentucky University, and various partners, including Dell, Microsoft, HP, Avaya, Awesome Inc and Extreme Networks.

Bondurant Middle School (Franklin County) students Sam Simpson and Elijah Ballinger strike superhero poses in front of the green screen for Lafayette High School (Fayette County) senior Elias Conwell while in the technology playground during the STLP state championship. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Stopher Elementary School (Jefferson County) students Paxton Gilispie and Drew Kilner compete in the Robo Challenge Xtreme. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Greyson Beatty and Dylan Cobb, student sat Bowling Middle School (Owen County), learn how to take apart a computer from Geek Squad service technicians Kyle Peck and Lee Groves. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Owen County Elementary School 3rd-students Kaileigh Grider and Meleah Beatty dressed the part to coordinate with their showcase project The Rockin’ Recipe Club. The group made a cookbook filled with recipes that elementary-aged kids could make. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Students from Lincoln Elementary School (Simpson County) used their hand-held devices while waiting for their showcase project display to be judged. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Harrison Elementary School (Fayette County) students Jayden Parker, Maian Jennings and Destinee Gilmore dance to Blame it on the Boogie by Mick Jackson. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Ben Johnson Elementary School (Breckenridge County) set up their showcase project display. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014

Jon Kingery, an 8th-grade student at Butler County Middle School, sports his STLP team shirt.
Photo by Amy Wallot, April 22, 2014