Students at Greenwood Elementary (Jefferson County) – from left, 5th-grader Sydney Vance, 4th-grader Ruby Goss, 4th-grader Abigail Westman and 5th-grader Zoe Winebrenner – present their project to a judge during the 2025 Student Technology Leadership Program State Championship. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, April 23, 2025
(LEXINGTON, KY) – More than 20,000 people attended the Student Technology Leadership Program State Championship at Rupp Arena in Lexington on April 23.
Students, educators, district edtech leaders, administrators, Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff and community members got to witness students from all over the state showcasing their technology projects.
Run by KDE’s Office of Education Technology, the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) uses project-based learning, technology utilization and digital content creation to empower student achievement. Education leaders, volunteers and vendor partners help put on the annual championship event.
The 2025 STLP State Championship featured more than 500 K-12 schools from 107 school districts. Students competed in over 20 live challenges in areas such as coding, robotics and cinemania, which is a filmmaking competition where teams create short videos within 48 hours. These competitions allow students to test creativity, problem-solving and technical skills.
Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said the program is a wonderful opportunity for students to have vibrant learning experiences, one of the central ideas in Kentucky’s United We Learn vision.
“Our students are getting hands-on experiences creating real-world projects and solving real-world problems as part of STLP,” Fletcher said. “These competitions encourage students to use technology to learn, lead and solve problems in creative and collaborative ways. Today we are seeing Kentucky’s future business and community leaders, and they are doing an excellent job.”
As part of the Sumo Bots competition at the 2025 Student Technology Leadership Program State Championship, Cumberland County High School senior Kaden Morgan, left, and junior Parker Shelley watch as their robot battles another robot from a team at Western Hills High School (Franklin County). Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, April 23, 2025
More than 600 project teams presented their year-long, technology-based work built upon the Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology.
Students were judged in more than 24 creative digital arts categories, including animation, photography, podcasting, video production, 3D design, augmented reality and digital music.
KDE Associate Commissioner and K-12 Chief Information Officer David Couch said students demonstrated both their creative expression and technical mastery in digital storytelling.
“The STLP State Championship is a live look at what vibrant, authentic learning looks like,” he said. “This event celebrates the power of students as creators, leaders and problem-solvers in a connected world.”
Judges selected the champion project teams from the top project-based entries. The four state champions selected are:
- K-5 Division Best STLP Project in Kentucky: “Mystery History,” Summit Elementary School (Boyd County)
- 6-8 Division Best STLP Project in Kentucky: “Girls in Flight,” Kammerer Middle School (Jefferson County)
- 9-12 Division Best STLP Project in Kentucky: “The Paw Print,” Fairdale High School (Jefferson County)
- Dave Sigler Award for Best Technical STLP Project: “Project LOCKDOWN,” Russell High School (Russell Independent)
Champions will represent Kentucky as special presenters at the 2025 International Society for Technology in Education Conference in San Antonio, Texas, which is one of the world’s largest edtech gatherings.
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