Technology students at Longfellow Elementary School hope to win their school $30,000 worth of classroom equipment with their music and videography talents.

A video created by fifth-graders in Michelle Baker’s technology classes has been selected as one of five finalists in the elementary division of a classroom makeover video contest sponsored by educational technology company eInstruction.

“We were determined to get into the top five and ... possibly win,” 10-year-old Jackson Shaffer said.

Added classmate Aidee Longe: “We really want it bad.”

The contest entailed the students making a video no more than 2 1/2 minutes long about the use of technology in the classroom, among other requirements, according to the contest’s Web site.
 
The film was submitted Nov. 10 and the Longfellow group got word they were finalists one week later.

Instrumental music teacher Diana Fay  Williams, who wrote lyrics for the students’ video, said staff members were just as enthusiastic as their pupils about their status as finalists.

“We were jumping up and down together,” Williams said.

Set to the tune of the Ting Tings’ “That’s Not My Name,” the Longfellow students espouse the fun and benefits of classroom technology in their upbeat and colorful video.

In one scene, tie-dye-clad students working at computers sing, “We use the flip cams to make a movie. Enhance and edit to make it groovy.”
 
Other scenes show spirited students clamoring to enter the technology classroom and teachers dancing alongside students to the lyrics, “We do the research on a laptop and then we podcast and we don’t want to stop.”

The entire process, from Williams writing the song to students developing a concept and storyboard to Baker editing the film, took about three weeks, Baker said. Equipment used to produce the video included a camera, computers, a green screen and a projector.

The production was labor intensive, and each scene required “a million takes,” Jackson, the student, said.
 
The end result, however, was well worth it, according to the students.
 
“The best part was seeing how it turned out in the end,” Zaria Glover, 10, said.
 
If the students win, they will receive prizes such as a Dell computer, a 3M projector and a $1,000 cash prize toward the purchase of equipment and a cake party.

“Even if we don’t win, it’s still a huge accomplishment,” Williams said.
 
Seventy percent of the contest vote will be determined by a panel of judges that include news anchors, editors of educational magazines and musicians in a band. The remaining 30 percent will be determined by votes posted on the contest Web site, eimakeover09.shycast.com/submission/show/377.
 
• The River Hill High School Music Boosters are beginning their annual citrus fruit sale to raise funds for the music program. Monthly sales will continue through February. Orders are being taken for ruby red grapefruit, navel oranges, tangerines and variety packs. Order forms and more information are available at www.riverhillmusic.org (follow links to Citrus Fruit). To receive e-mail updates on the sales, e-mail rhhsfruit@verizon.net.

• The Marriotts Ridge High School music department, with the support of the MRHS Music Foundation, is holding its citrus fruit sale to help music students raise funds for an annual spring trip. Monthly sales will continue through February. November’s sale will offer grapefruit, navel oranges, tangerines and a variety pack. Go to www.mrhsmusic.net or e-mail mrhsfruit@yahoo.com for more details.
 
Send school-related items to School Days, Flier/Times, 10750 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, MD 21044. Fax items to 410-997-4564 or e-mail mroshan@patuxent.com.

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