THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504040164
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINDSOR LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
WHAT ARE THE COMPLETE lyrics to ``Won't You Be My Neighbor,'' theme song of the public television children's show ``Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood''?
When you send E-mail to President Clinton, what are you likely to get back?
And, by the way, what are the current ski conditions at the mountain resort Wintergreen?
If you find the right students at Windsor Elementary School, you'll find the right answers.
In fact, fifth-graders Jonathan Spivey and Loran Carter and third-grader Jacob Simmons are real whiz kids - computer whiz kids, that is.
They probably can find out just about anything you'd want to know, simply by searching computer networks.
They are a team, and they showed their expertise in information searching recently at the Great Computer Challenge: They tied for first place in the telecomputing category with Wythe School of Hampton.
The competition was at Huntington Middle School in Newport News and included 17 schools from South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula.
The challenge that earned them the first-place tie with the Hampton school involved a kind of computer scavenger hunt through information systems, said Virginia Underwood, the Windsor Elementary librarian who also was in charge of organizing and training the five teams that represented that school.
``The telecomputing team worked beautifully together,'' Underwood said. ``There was great teamwork. They shared ideas. I was amazed you could find the complete lyrics to a song in a computer information system.''
The three students had to answer 12 questions and two bonus questions. They had to log into the right computer network, search for and find the answers, and they had to do it within the time limit.
Then the team had to go before a panel of judges to answer questions verbally about how they accomplished the task. The two teams that tied for first place were the only teams able to find the answers to every question, Underwood said.
``Finding the answers to all 14 questions was really a challenge,'' Underwood said. ``They had to answer the questions and submit a log telling how they found the answers.''
Windsor's primary publishing team, made up of kindergartners through second-graders, also was a standout in the competition. That team, with Brionte Evans, Nicole Sease and Ashlee Perry, scored an excellent rating.
Isle of Wight County was well represented in the Computer Challenge, Underwood said, and the county had its share of winners.
In addition to the winning Windsor teams, a team from Hardy Elementary captured an excellent rating in graphic arts; a Carrsville team, kindergarten through second, earned an excellent in primary publishing, and Hardy took an honorable mention in the same category.
Underwood, who has been around long enough to recall when the county got its first computer for schoolchildren, said she couldn't have been more proud of the local students - all of them.
She was librarian at Carrsville Elementary in 1982 when the library there was equipped with its first Apple II.
``I let it sit on the wall for a while. I knew nothing about computers. The following fall, I took my first class.''
That first class led to a real enthusiasm for the librarian, and she passed that enthusiasm on to her students.
In her first year at Windsor Elementary as librarian and technology coordinator, Underwood said, she started last fall by teaching the elementary students there basic terms and skills. They learned keyboarding skills and the parts of the computers.
By spring, they were ready for the Computer Challenge.
``I wanted to take five teams,'' Underwood said. ``A different faculty member sponsored each team. Kindergartners through fifth-graders participated.''
Faculty member Verna Jones sponsored the telecomputing team that brought the first-place honor back to the county.
Members of other Windsor teams were: desktop publishing (3-5), Ashley Fuller, Tamika Mills, Brittney Faircloth; graphics (3-5), Yance Ruth, Jason Barnes, Brandon David; graphics (K-2), Alex Robinson, Sarah Studyvin, Elizabeth Rensch.
Oh, by the way, when you send E-mail to President Clinton, you do get a reply, but it doesn't come straight from Bill.
Instead, you get a letter from a White House staff member stating that the message has been received but that the president gets so much E-mail each day it's impossible for him to reply personally.
If your inquiry requires a personal reply, however, you'll be assured in the message that yours will be forthcoming. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Computer challenge winners from Windsor Elementary School are, from
left: Jacob Simmons, Loran Carter and Jonathan Spivey.
by CNB