From S.W. Snowden Elementary School

AURORA — In early March, S. W. Snowden Elementary staff members Lillie Moore, Debra Boyd, Brian Stewart, Dante Dillahunt and Principal Debra Kinsey took students to the NCTIES (North Carolina Technology In Education Society) Conference in Raleigh. The 11 students came from grades 2 through 8. For the second year in a row, S.W. Snowden students were chosen to showcase their talents. Moore and Boyd worked diligently to access every available resource to fund the occasion and allow students to experience sharing 21^st-century skills using critical thinking. The Aurora Woman’s Club supported funding as well as donations from other SWS staff.

Students were chosen based on positive characteristics such as responsibility, respect, honesty, kindness, and proficiency with the academic requirements according to the North Carolina Common Core Essential Standards for technology. The students were very excited to share their knowledge with educators, peers and administrators. Many of the conference attendees had questions in regards to the important information shared by the students. Several attendees admitted that they had not heard of many of the programs the students showcased which focused on math. The programs presented were: IXL-Math, First in Math, Tenmarks – Math, Sumdo – Math, Study Island and Vmath Live (TransMath). Student attendees were Corey Jones, Jr. (fourth grade), Trai’Naijah Pettihomme and Arnaya Cratch (fifth grade), Yamilet Osorio-Rosalino (second grade), Jartiavan Campbell, Charleen Miller and Jenniefer Moreno-Gomez (sixth grade) and Skylar Pounds, Octavis Grimes, Jorge Osorio-Rosalino and Avery Burgess (eighth grade).