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THINKQUEST SA BESTOWS WEBSITE AWARDS TO TOP TEAMS
Telkom SA and SchoolNet SA announced the winners of the ThinkQuest web design competition for learners aged 12 to 18 years. The annual competition, sponsored in South Africa by the Telkom Foundation, recognises the efforts of learners from diverse backgrounds in creating educational websites.
Winners of the Gold Award:
Where the River Runs
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0124721/
Marc Katzwinkel from Hilton College, KwaZulu Natal
Prosper Mthembu from Mpophomeni High School, KwaZulu Natal
Mduduzi Magagula, Rossburgh High School, KwaZulu Natal.
The website was cited for its very original content and creative presentation. It was praised for its good river study information and investigation of the environment. The judges also noted its engaging and relevant topic and availability in both English and Zulu.
Winners of the Silver Award:
Whales and Whale spotting
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0124382/
Poul Vendel from Penryn College, Mpumulanga
Bennie Joubert from Penryn College, Mpumulanga.
Judges noted that the team had developed a well-researched, fun learning environment that won the top award for web design.
The Bronze award winners:
Healing the Nation 2001
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0123265/
Guido Penzhorn from Hilton College, KwaZulu Natal,
Lunga Ngubane from Mpophomeni High School, KwaZulu Natal
Yvonne Maingey from Rusinga School, Kenya.
Special mentions were to:
Water Hyacinth: Sandi Barrett and Asmaa Mohamed from Greenfield Girls Primary School and Jason Jason, Jurie Hayes Primary School.
The Drug Explosion: Siseko Sodlaka, Masiyile School and Lulama Kene, Uxolo High in the Western Cape.
Child Abuse: Zola Sodlaka, Masiyile School and Tembisa Nozomblile, Yomelela Public Primary School, Western Cape.
The judging criteria focused on educational value, entry quality, team diversity and collaboration, Internet style of learning and entry usage.
Special mention was given to teams on the basis of the ages of the team members, the obstacles encountered and social relevance of efforts.
Judge co-ordinator Gerald Roos noted an improvement in the general standard and educational quality of the competitors' web designs.
Prizes totalling R50 000 will be awarded to the Gold, Silver, Bronze and special mention team members, and their schools.
Sponsored by the Telkom Foundation to the value of over R300,000 a year, ThinkQuest has been implemented in South Africa under the auspices of SchoolNet SA.
The Telkom Foundation administers and distributes all corporate social responsibility funds on behalf of Telkom. The Foundation has adopted a tight strategic focus and one of its primary objectives is boosting the quality of maths, science and technical education in disadvantaged communities.
Says Nkosinathi Pahlana, Acting Senior Manager of the Telkom Foundation: "We believe that ThinkQuest continues to be an excellent vehicle to motivate and inspire learners to be achievers using their own creativity. ThinkQuest undoubtedly develops and improves their research and technical skills. Through this project, not only do they learn how to present educational topics in a fun and challenging manner, the bottom line is that they are encouraged to develop competencies in the areas of science and technology."
This year's ThinkQuest SA competition has been designed to encourage South African development by running national and international competitions concurrently.
All ThinkQuest participants qualify for the international ThinkQuest competition, which conducts its own judging process. This makes it possible for an entry to win an international award but not a ThinkQuest SA award. Winners of the international competition will be announced later this year.
The competition required that at least two learners in each team had to be South African. ThinkQuest SA encourages learners to form teams and collaborate with other South African learners from different schools and countries, with varying levels of experience and access to technological resources.
Learners were allowed to choose their topics from five categories: Arts and Literature, Science and Mathematics, Social Sciences, Sports and Health and Interdisciplinary.
This year's entries from South Africa have increased by 20 percent, with South Africa ranking number three in the number of students submitting entries, after the United States and Singapore, joining entrants from over 70 countries.
For More Information on ThinkQuest enter here: 
Issued by: Faye Epstein
Simeka TWS Communications
Tel: (011) 712-9600
faye@stws.adcorp.co.za
On behalf of: Stephen Marquard
SchoolNet SA
Tel: (011) 645-6400
Email: scm@schoolnet.org.za
Web: http://www.school.za
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