Champion Principal

Dr. Chris Deibler
Pound Middle School, Lincoln, Nebraska

As the first Time Warner Cable Champion Principal, Dr. Chris Deibler recognizes and understands that technology offers important and effective learning tools to reach students who have a variety of academic abilities and come from different economic backgrounds.  Students at Pound Middle School are exposed to a vast array of technology and media including video streaming, PowerPoint, pre-recorded cable programs, websites, software programs and more.  In addition, Dr. Deibler established a Learning Web committee, held a technology fair for students and launched an after school class to help teachers stay current with new technology. 

Linda Miller

Roosevelt High School
San Antonio, TX

"Promoting Social Awareness Through Multimedia"
Eleventh grade students explored the social limitations and real life obstacles faced by their special needs peers.  Using the Internet for research, the students produced a video featuring special needs students demonstrating “right” and “wrong” social skills in various situations.  By using multimedia technology and programs from Cable in the Classroom and Disney, the students achieved a higher level of awareness of the challenges faced by their fellow students with varying needs and handicaps. 
 

Zach Gautier

Jasper High School
Plano, TX

"100 Days to Change the World"
Grades 9-10. During the last 100 days of a semester, the high school speech and debate students raised their voices to address the Crisis in Darfur.  Through simulation exercises, the students analyzed the government’s role in resolving the conflict in Sudan.  By partnering with relief organizations and raising awareness in the community and in the business world, the students achieved a global perspective and became advocates for change.  Cable resources such as MTV and the Internet brought the genocide in Darfur into the classroom, and through the use of journaling and creating videos, the students documented the personal change the project had on their lives. 
 

Marycay Densmore

Mesa Verde Middle School
San Diego, CA

"Bridging the Past to the Present"
The study of Rome became the backdrop for lessons on life’s gifts that are timeless and can be seen throughout history.  By using cable resources from The History Channel, National Geographic Channel and the Internet, the 7th grade students created PowerPoints and videos that connected Ancient Day Rome to modern times.  After reading the The Ultimate Gift and conducting a video conference with the author, students then wrote essays on their gifts of life.  As part of the project, students also became active in their community by being nice to fellow students for 30 days, raising funds for the Pasta for Pennies Drive for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and conducting a food drive. 
 

Richard Lord Jr.

Presque Isle High School
Presque Isle, ME

"Germs Gone Wild" 
High school students researched infectious disease pandemics of the past and future, relating them to their own lives as well as to the study of microbiology.  Using cable resources such as The History Channel, the 11-12 grade students studied the Black Death, the Spanish Influenza pandemic and the possible threat of the Avian Influenza.  For their culminating activity, they created products such as PowerPoints, videos, children’s books and plays that communicated to a larger audience their understanding of the effects and consequences of pandemics. 
 

Shelley Grant

PS 51
New York, NY

"Bread Brings Us Together" 
From the study of bread, a class of kindergartners from Hell’s Kitchen studied a variety of family cultures, increased their comprehension and language skills, participated in science procedures and learned to work together and independently.  By visiting a bakery, reading books about bread and watching cable programming, the students discovered that people all over the world eat bread and that are just as many similarities as there are differences in various bread types.  They also learned that science is all around us - even in something we see and eat every day. 
 

Elizabeth Suber
Shannon Carrigan
Tangela Hinton
Kimberly Liscoe
Christy Haynes
and Karen Hibyan

Grier Middle School
Gastonia, NC

"Speedweek:  The Quest for the Academy Cup" 
Seventh grade students got their engines running when they connected physics concepts to the sport of motor racing.  After a field trip to Lowe’s Motor Speedway and a visit to an art gallery featuring a noted NASCAR artist, the students formed “pit crews” to create their own racing teams.  They worked on budgets, designed logos, t-shirts and advertising campaigns, wrote driver profiles and built cars from recycled materials.  On the final day of “Speed Week,” members of the motor sports industry visited the class to discuss academic programs at colleges and universities in order to pursue careers in motor sports.
 

Scott Moss

Toler Elementary School
San Diego, CA 

"MediAbility"
Cable resources such as Nickelodeon, Lifetime, CNN, ESPN and Cable in the Classroom helped third grade students focus on Media Literacy in order to think more critically about the images, words and sounds that comprise a large part of our culture.  As part of the learning goals, students analyzed different types of media, evaluated web sites and studied copyright laws.  The project culminated with a student video production showcasing media literacy concepts for their fellow students and parents. 
 

Jim Heston
Mary Duty
Jacki Johnson
Russ Reisinger
David Gaines
Jessica Reisinger
David Gibson
Heather Duckworth
and Kay Martinez

G.W. Carver Academy
Waco, TX 

"The Mock Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald" 
The Discovery Channel, The History Channel and Road Runner were just some of the cable resources used to bring to life the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald.  Eighth grade students, with the help of a local attorney, researched, designed sets and presented evidence in a real-world format.  The cross curriculum project involved language arts with writing assignments, forensic science, geometry for creating scale models of Dealey Plaza and social studies.  
 

Perry McLeod 

Richland Northeast High School
Columbia, SC 

"Our Next Greatest Generation - A Tribute to the South Carolina National Guard"
Grades: 10 - 11. High school students learned the meaning of “boots on the ground” with this oral history project that used digital video technology to connect students to the men and women who serve with the South Carolina National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan.  With the help of The History Channel and the Internet, the students (many of whom have one or both parents deployed) researched and developed interview questions to create a video documentary that is now being aired at the SC Military Museum. 
 

Jennifer Atkinson

Metz Elementary
Austin, TX 

"Magic of Metz 90th Anniversary Celebration" 
In this project, kindergartners through fifth-grade students studied, documented and preserved the rich history of the 90-year old Metz Elementary School, the first in the country to teach bilingual education.  The students collected oral histories from past Metz students and teachers and showcased their work in a multimedia presentation.  Fourth grade students also wrote and performed an opera about the history of the school.  A final “Best of Metz” event featured all the students work including the unveiling of a mural and garden fountain commemorating the anniversary. 
 

Michael Oconnor

Waianae High School
Waianae, HI

"Digital Storytelling:  Nani’s Struggle" 
Using Cartoon Network as a guide, students used animation and video to create public service announcements and short videos.  Their mission was to digitally tell stories about issues that affected the Hawaiian community.  The students in grades 10-12 studied the art of scriptwriting, storyboarding and animating to shed light on such topics as homelessness, tobacco and drugs. 
 

Brian Bownds

Temple High School
Temple, TX

"CO2 Dragsters:  Fuel for Learning" 
Grades 9-12. Basic science principles of simple machines, aerodynamics and the effects of weight on acceleration became the focus for the Career and Technology Center students.  By designing and building their own CO2 powered racers, the students studied algebraic functions to figure speed, automatic principles of shop safety and vehicle design.  The students kept journals to document their learnings and design drawings.  The class created a video to broadcast on the class website and to be used by the instructor as an advertisement to prospective students. 
 

Leslie Flores

Star View School
Midway City, CA

"California Gold Rush:  Chasing the Dream"
The Discovery Channel, A&E Networks and The History Channel laid out a visual foundation for the 4th grade students to learn in greater detail the historical events that changed California history.  In order to bring the cross-curricular theme to life, students panned for gold, performed a musical play, wrote diaries, participated in several hands-on science experiments, measured, cut and sewed their own “poke” bags and mathematically compared pick ax to hydraulic mining. 
 

Scott Bendler
Susie Larson
and Carrie Tracy

Bryan Community
Lincoln, NE

"Life Stories" 
This project was a collaboration between elderly residents and students attending Bryan Community, an alternative high school.  By meeting every Wednesday for 12 weeks, the students researched, interviewed and produced a video on the elders’ life stories.  Biographies on A&E Networks and programming on Immigration and Ellis Island from The History Channel brought the senior citizens’ generation to life.  The final documentary premiered at a local theater with the students, elders and families invited and also aired on Time Warner Cable’s Educational Access Channel. 
 

Becky Boswell
and Carolyn Patterson

Lefler and Pound Middle Schools
Lincoln, NE

"The Civil War Comes to Nebraska" 
Students from two middle schools researched the Civil War in depth by using primary source documents and cable programs including Travel Channel, The History Channel and A&E Networks.  They created realistic costumes, wrote monologues, painted murals and designed props to tell the story of battles, wounded soldiers, nurses, spies, engineers and more.  The students presented their historical research in an evening presentation with parents, educators and community members in attendance.