Porter County Youth Awarded Top Honors for Excellence in Movie Making

BGC-Digital-Arts-National-winners-2012Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County—South Haven Unit Members Named Winners for Animation Creation in National Club Tech Digital Arts Festival

Three members of Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County-South Haven Unit were named the winners in a national digital arts competition for their creativity and use of technology in movie making. Sheridan Bickett, Dakota Bikett and Hailey Rodgers were recognized as the national winners for the Movie Tech animation category of the Club Tech Digital Arts Festivals for the 10-12 age group.

"It was amazing that our members won at the Midwest level, which included 13 other states. I was overwhelmed when BGCA announced that we won the entire national contest,” said Ron Ranta, Unit Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County-South Haven Unit. “I am so proud of Sheridan, Dakota and Hailey with the success of this stop animation film. This was a total team effort, which included the star of the film, Jeremy Pratts (17), the club’s staff members Jordan Clough, Tabitha Eggers and volunteer Chuck Polarek who helped supervise this project. "

The Digital Arts Festivals are presented by Boys & Girls Clubs of America through its partnership with founding sponsor Microsoft and Comcast. The Festivals recognize Club members who use artistic expression in six categories: photography, music, graphic design, game design, movie animation and film.

The Digital Arts Festivals encourage artistic expression through technology and allow youth to learn real-world skills,” said Dan Rauzi, senior director of Technology Programs for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “Through our national partnership with Microsoft and Comcast, we are able to provide an opportunity to see the amazing things our kids and teens can do when given access to technology and allowed to express themselves creatively.

For the Movie Tech animation category, Boys & Girls Club members were asked to create their own stop-motion animated short story. The entry was judged by a panel of national experts and competed against submissions from Clubs across the globe. National judges included Lisa Keene, Art Director at Disney; Chelsea Badeau, Director of Homepage Programming, XFINITY.com at Comcast; and Nunzio DeFilippis, Graphic Novel Writer.

BGC-logo-newThe Digital Arts Festivals are part of Club Tech, a program that integrates technology into Club activities to help youth develop skills critical to building a successful future. The competitions allow members to take tech skills they’ve learned through their Boys & Girls Club and get creative to design original pieces of artwork.

The quality of the entries we see for the Digital Arts Festivals every year never ceases to amaze me,” commented Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Citizenship at Microsoft Corporation. “This year’s winners are the perfect example of how giving young people access to technology and the knowledge to use it unleashes their creativity and showcases how we can create exciting opportunities for youth in all our communities.”

To learn more about the technology programs offered at Boys & Girls Clubs, visit www.bgca.org/clubtech.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County
Serving youth for 40 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County provide programs for nearly 5,000 boys and girls ages 5-18 in the areas of academic success, good character & citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County has club sites located in Valparaiso, South Haven, Chesterton and Portage. Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County offers a wide variety of summer camps and programs. For more information on summer activities, membership, volunteer opportunities or to make a tax deductible donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County, please contact your local Club, call (219) 464-7282 or visit www.bgcpoco.org. Great Futures Start HERE.

About Club Tech
Club Tech was created by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org/clubtech) and Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) in 2000 to technologically enable Clubs worldwide, transforming Clubs from "swim and gym" to "point and click" destinations. Partnering with longtime supporter Comcast (www.comcast.com) and Microsoft, BGCA provides technology program access to some 4 million youth served through Club membership and community outreach at nearly 4,000 Clubs. By leveling the virtual playing field, kids of all ages and circumstances now have access to the same resources and skills to help them discover their world, expand creativity, perform better in school, and eventually take their technology know-how into the workplace.

About Microsoft
Microsoft is focused on creating opportunities for youth through technology, training, and experiences that empower them to imagine and realize their full potential and make a real impact for a better tomorrow. Our longstanding partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is an example of how technology can create opportunities for youth. For more information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/citizenship or follow us on Twitter at @msftcitizenship

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the world's leading media, entertainment and communications companies. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable Communications and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable Communications is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.