Never heard of the Great Computer Challenge? Here's a couple of videos to give you an idea of what happens at this student competition which teaches the students how to work together as they work on real world computer problems.

Junior 05 Senior 06

Mark Your Calendars for the 23rd Annual Great Computer Challenge 2008
	JUNIOR GRADES K-5 April 19, 2008 (Deadline - March 28, 2008)
	SENIOR GRADES 6-12 March 15, 2008 (Deadline - February 22, 2008)

The registration forms will be available
January 15, 2008. 
http://www.whro.org/cii/gcc

GCC 2007 Updates

Senior Great Computer Challenge-Grades 6-12
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Old Dominion University, Webb Center
Norfolk, Virginia

6-12 Students Take On The Challenge!

Imagine this, 141 teams with up to 5 students on each team, with each team bringing their own computer, met at Old Dominion University on March 10, 2007 to compete against other schools in Desktop Publishing, Graphic Arts, Desktop Presentations, Web Design, Music Composition, Integrated Applications, Visual Basic, Scientific/Non-Business Programming (was C++), CAD, and JAVA. These teams have spent months preparing for a problem that they have never seen before. With the support of their teacher sponsor, they are ready to take on the challenge. These teams gathered from all over the Hampton Roads area including Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Mathews, Middlesex, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and York, as well as several of the local independent schools including Bishop Sullivan Catholic H.S., Cape Henry Collegiate, Chesapeake Bay Academy, Faith Academy, St. Gregory the Great, St. Pius X School, Star of the Sea, and Trinity Lutheran. Winners for the Senior Division can be found here. Photos from the event can be found here.

During the competition, some of the other activities that occurred included:

■Showing in the cafeteria was TeachingNOW!, the serieswhich investigates the relationships between education and technology. TeachingNOW! explores the issues, ideas, and strategies of technology integration by showcasing case studies from across the nation of our K-12 schools, colleges and universities. Segments are streamed here. http://www.teachingnow.org
■ The Mock Competition, where coaches and parents were able to work on problems they chose, using computers that they brought with them.
■ Robb Ponton of Williamsburg wowed the group with a session called Mystery Meat, "Some Kool Things I've Found Online."

■ John Harrison of Virginia Beach presented a three dimensional graphics program, called Alice, suitable for Middle School Exploratory High School Intro to Programming AP CS Beginning Concepts. http://www.alice.org/

■ Bill Duggins of Virginia Tech set up a table replicating the competition table at the First Lego League. Students and teachers were able to experience the excitement of progamming a robot and sending it on a mission. Contact vafll@comcast.net
for more information on the First Lego League. http://www.vadcfll.org
http://www.legomindstorms.com/fll

Junior Great Computer - Grades K-5
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Old Dominion University, Webb Center
Norfolk, Virginia

K-5 Students Take On The Challenge!

Imagine this, 151 teams with up to 3 students on each team, with each team bringing their own computer, meeting at Old Dominion University to compete against other schools in Desktop Publishing, Graphic Arts, Desktop Presentations, and the Internet Scavenger Hunt. Teams have spent months preparing for a problem that they have never seen before. With the support of their teacher sponsor, they are ready to take on the challenge. These teams gathered on May 19, 2007 from all over the Hampton Roads area, including Chesapeake, Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Mathews, Middlesex, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, York, as well as several of the local independent schools including Broadwater Academy, Cape Henry Collegiate, Faith Academy, Hampton Roads Country Day School, Norfolk Collegiate, St. Andrews Episcopal, St. Gregory The Great, St. Patrick's, St. Pius X, Star of the Sea, and Trinity Lutheran. Winners for the Junior Division can be found here. Photos from the event can be found here.

During the competition, some of the other activities that occurred included:
■ Showing in the cafeteria was TeachingNOW!, the series which investigates the relationships between education and technology. TeachingNOW! explores the issues, ideas, and strategies of technology integration by showcasing case studies from across the nation of our K-12 schools, colleges and universities.http://www.teachingnow.org
■ The Mock Competition, where coaches and parents were able to work on problems they chose, using computers that they brought with them.
■Kristy Hingerty of Suffolk presented a session on WebQuests. Web WHAT? Kristy answered that question, and the participants discovered how exciting incorporating a webquest into the classroom can be.
■ John Osterhout of Chesapeake
presented an overview of digital video editing using MS Movie Maker, including the capture and import of video from DV cameras, VHS, and online clips from unitedstreaming™.





Don't think you could ever edit a video using Movie Maker? You must watch this video for inspiration. Click here.

■ James Loeffler of Portsmouth explored the exciting world of ArcGIS. You see it every day in weather reports on TV series like 24 and any movie involving technology. ArcGIS ties all kinds of information to a geographic point and that information is used by city planners, all kinds of scientists, voting parties, government agencies etc. The software is tied up with almost every aspect of modern life.
■ Diann Caviness of Virginia Beach brought digital camera tips to the Great Computer Challenge. The session concentrated on how to take good shots, picture composition, camera setting, memory cards, and downloading to computer.


■ Martha Razor of WHRO had many participants join her in the WHRO Kids Room. Activities included Between the Lions Bingo, Arthur word searches, Zoom science experiments, Create a Share A Story Book, and other WHRO Kids arts & crafts.

Honoring Grace Little, The Creator Of The Great Computer Challenge

Many of you who participant in the Great Computer Challenge know that we partner with  Old Dominion University. Do you know how long the Great Computer Challenge has been around? 2007 marked the 22nd year of Great Computer Challenge. Actually, that’s not totally correct. ODU started the Great Computer Challenge and ran it several years before WHRO/CII got involved. At that time, the called it the Programming Contest.

The Great Computer Challenge was created by a woman named Grace Little who is currently the Assistant Director of OCCS (Office of Computing and Communications Services) at ODU. 2007 marked her last year of running the show. At the 2007 competitions, we celebrated her creation of and continued commitment to the GCC which has affected the lives of so many.

We honored her with a plaque recognizing her creation, time, and commitment to the competition. Thank you Grace. We will miss you dearly. She will be around as she mentors the person taking over the ODU portion, so stop and say hi, and thanks if you get a chance. If you would like to drop her an email, you can reach her at glittle@odu.edu. (Please do not send questions about the competition. They can be directed to gcc@whro.org.)

On the plaque were the following words, along with the GCC logos:

	The Consortium for Interactive Instruction and WHRO Honors GRACE LITTLE In Recognition of your innovative idea which grew into what we all know today as the Great Computer Challenge. In Grateful Appreciation of 26 years of devotion to this competition which has affected, and will continue to affect the lives of so many students. May your legacy live on. 1982 – 1985 Programming Contest 1986 – 2007 Great Computer Challenge