Catherine Wright, Reporter
@CWrightCourant
Whether you’ve been in the New Canaan public school system your entire life or only a few weeks, you’ve probably heard of Tech Night. On Tuesday, April 5, Tech Night will celebrate its tenth annual event from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at the high school.
Tech Night began ten years ago as an opportunity for teachers in the district to showcase how they were incorporating technology into their classrooms, but a few years in, Tech Night’s focus shifted to NCPS students’ passion projects. “We have had things all over the place from students creating games for iPods and iPads to potato cannons to websites to VEX robotics to filmmaking so it has really progressed from the classroom to ‘this is what you’re passionate about,’” Technology Integrator, Tom Honohan, said.
New Canaan students, and especially NCHS students, continue to impress at Tech Night every year, getting more and more sophisticated as the years go on. “What’s been really impressive for me is to see students submitting applications everywhere from third grade all the way to high school, and just being completely blown away by the level of sophistication of what they’re pursuing,” Director of Digital Learning, Matthew Salvestrini said. “I’ve just been really impressed with the variety of applications and the creativity behind those ideas.”
Something both Mr. Honohan and Mr. Salvestrini noted was their desire for more students to be involved in or participate in Tech Night. Even if they are not presenting, Mr. Honohan encouraged students to come to the event to see the innovation and the energy that students bring to what they’re presenting.
Mr. Honohan also outlined the steps a student should take if they want to present at Tech Night. The first move is to approach either him or Ms. Magnan and express interest in the event, and then with their approval students create a five to seven minute presentation of their project.
Tech Night is an opportunity for students to put their passion projects on display for the entire community. Go check out Tech Night on April 5, starting at 6:30 pm at the high school.
