Ada Spinney

Spinney’s winning program, “Operation Digital Denizens!,” is designed by students for students. The program focuses on helping students learn about digital citizenship – how to be a good inhabitant of the digital world. Sixth-grade students at Carl J. Lamb Elementary School will develop and implement a program that they will then share with younger students in first through fifth grades. The goals are to help youth become aware of and understand how to be a good digital citizen and use technology safely. The students, known as “digital denizens,” will develop a website where they help younger students learn about terms including denizen, citizen, technology and social media. The communication between the older and younger students will take place via Skype and email presentations. The sixth graders will then visit the classes of the younger students to get feedback and award them with certificates of achievement for their participation. Spinney, who lives in Biddeford, hopes the program will help all of the participating students feel empowered and accomplished as they share what they have learned with others. She would ultimately like for the program to become an elective activity for the elementary teachers to share with their students throughout the year.