Students showcase tech projects and school engagement programs at Spencer County meeting

Students from across Spencer County showcased classroom and extracurricular technology projects during the board meeting, demonstrating everything from data-collection projects in primary grades to 3-D-printed dioramas and a student newscast prototype.

A presenter described the district’s 'Flip Nights' — family engagement events where two grade levels present projects to parents in a mini-defense format. The presenter said Flip Nights are held three times a year (October, December and March) and reported typical attendance between 500 and 700 people, with PTO support and community appearances such as Santa Claus and character guests at seasonal events.

Middle and high school students described projects submitted to STLP competition: the district submitted 16 projects this year with 13 advancing. Students demonstrated digital art, digital music composition, a student news cast using iMovie and other tools, and a Minecraft project imagining Spencer County 100 years in the future. One coach, Adelia Gregory, said the program had expanded access by introducing monthly school-wide competitions that can be done from home and by integrating projects into grade-level curriculum; she reported participation has more than tripled compared with last year.

Several students spoke directly to the board about what they learned; one second grader explained how the class collected and graphed classmates’ favorite subjects, and a fourth grader described researching and building an animal habitat diorama that was converted into a digital model.

Board members praised the students and staff for the presentations and thanked coaches for their work increasing student engagement.