2008 Winner
Winner for 2008
Brenda Coe
Ooltewah High School
Chattanooga, TN
Brenda Coe is the 2008 recipient of the Connelly Award. Mrs. Coe teaches in the gifted program at Ooltewah High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A long time proponent of media infusion, Mrs. Coe began applying available technology in the 1960’s, using an open reel, black and white video recorder. Today, Macs and imovie software number among her favorite teaching tools.
With project based learning at the heart of her teaching initiatives, Mrs. Coe coaches her students through the rigorous processes of researching, writing, interviewing, art design, composition and technology skills. She reports that her students become so engaged in the process that they often choose to come into the classroom before and after school in order to work on their projects. Their dedication to excellence, inspired by Mrs. Coe’s teaching, is evidenced by fifteen years of ISMF participation and more than 35 winning student entries.
A “can do” teacher, Mrs. Coe has written and received several grants in order to make technology more available to her students. She has also forged innovative cooperative programs with agencies such as the public library system. She is dedicated to student participation in the International Student Media Festival, and has been bringing groups of students to the festival since 1993. She reports many hours dedicated to unloading and dispersing cookie dough and candles, collecting donations and organizing fundraising drives, in order to garner the funds necessary for her students to travel to and participate in the festival. “It’s very important to me for my students to experience the festival, and to receive their award in person,” Mrs. Coe commented.
The Connelly award is conferred to a classroom teacher or media specialist who integrates and demonstrates the power of student produced media. Nominees are evaluated on their ability to teach and inspire students, mentor and collaborate with fellow educators, and positively impact the field of media education.
Carl F. and Viola V. Mahnke Award
Winner for 2009
Skip Osborne
Skip Osborne has been a very important part of ISMF for many years. He has served as a judge, even traveling to Bloomington, IN on more than one occassion to lend a hand with judging. He volunteers to help each year at ISMF, helping to make the experience special for kids from all over the nation. He serves on the steering committee and is instrumental in helping to plan the event each year.
As a teacher, Skip’s students have excelled in producing media. His students have won many awards at ISMF and other media festivals over the past several years. His students’ work is outstanding — a true testament to his outstanding work as a teacher. Mr. Osborne clearly puts his students’ first, and inspires them to strive for excellence.
The funding for this award come from an endowment given to the AECT foundation in 1983 by Carl F. and Viola V. Mahnke of Des Moines, Iowa. Their company, Vocational Guidance Films, Inc. was active in the production and distribution of occupational films and pioneered in the production of films as a teaching tool in the early 1940s. Their intention when they esablished this award was to encourage “young people coming up” in their ongoing interest of visual education.
