Jaelynn’s video of fun class time wins school top prize   4 Sep 2015

Jaelynn’s video of fun class time wins school top prize

A 10-year-old girl’s admiration for her teacher has resulted in her winning $5000 worth of computer equipment for her school.

Campbells Bay School pupil Jaelynn Kim made the video for the University of Auckland’s #MyTeacherMoment campaign. The 743 public votes it earned made it the most popular entry and the prize winner.

Launched in early July, #MyTeacherMoment is a social media campaign and competition, developed by the Faculty of Education and Social Work to help raise the status of teaching in New Zealand while celebrating the incredible things our teachers are doing in our schools and communities.

People entered the competition by sharing their most inspiring teacher moment either through the competition entry form on www.topoftheclass.ac.nz or directly on to their Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #MyTeacherMoment as well as #the-name of a school or early childhood centre they want to win.

Each vote that the entry received from the public was an extra entry into the draw to win the $5000 prize. With over 700 votes, Jaelynn’s entry achieved the highest number of entries for her nominated school over the seven week period.

Jaelynn used an app called iMovie to make her video which gave her the ability to use moving sketches and images to describe her teacher, Mrs Caitlin Richardson, for her #MyTeacherMoment.

“My Teacher Mrs Richardson, she told our class that we could win $5000 worth of technology and I wanted to make her proud and I wanted to help the school too,” Jaelynn says.

“She’s really cool and funny and she’s really nice. She makes learning really fun.”

The video describes how Mrs Richardson and the class invented ‘TCool’, a system where the pupils work together to plan lessons by picking a subject from the TCool sheet.

The style of learning means the children get to take charge of their learning on a daily basis by picking what order they take their subjects.

Jaelynn’s video also posted positive messages about Mrs Richardson and school life against a backdrop of moving sketches including a dancing hamburger, ghetto-blaster and beachball.

Jaelynn is now considering becoming a teacher when she grows up, but she is also thinking about following a path into fashion design.

As well as her lessons Jaelynn also enjoys playing tennis and netball, especially if she gets to play her favourite positions of centre or goal attack.

Jaelynn’s success has made Mrs Richardson a proud teacher.

“I am very, very proud of her, she worked really hard on the video

“The best thing about it was she did it for the people she could help at our school, she didn’t do it to be famous. I am thrilled that she is in my class.”

She is particularly pleased Jaelynn highlighted the “TCool” class system.

“The pupils are really growing in maturity and the modern learning environment is helping them become mature and confident learners.

“I am incredibly passionate about my vocation, I don’t consider it a career I consider it a vocation – to hear first-hand it’s inspired children is the best reward you can get.”

Campbells Bay principal John McGowan says he is pleased his school has won.

“I was totally surprised given the competition was nation-wide. Participation was the main event and winning has been a bonus.”

He is also impressed with Jaelynn’s entry, and the quality of the competition.

“It never fails to impress and surprise me the levels of technology we now have access to in our classrooms. It is a very long way from what was available when I started teaching.”

He is also not at all surprised that Mrs Richardson received such praise from Jaelynn and the other students who entered the competition.

“Caitlin is a vibrant, energetic 'go getter' who never leaves a stone unturned if it will benefit her students.”

The school is planning to spend the $5000 later this year on some Google Chromebooks to assist the pupils’ learning.

To view Jaelynn’s winning entry, and others, go to www.topoftheclass.ac.nz

ENDS

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