Tatyana Ennis and Claira Deuel, sixth graders at Attica Middle School, were among the winners at the 19th annual Digital Media Festival last week at Strong National Museum of Play!
Known informally as The Digies, the Digital Media Festival is an annual conference and festival run by Genesee Valley BOCES’ School Library Service to strengthen the digital media continuum between Pre-K-12 schools, higher education and professional institutions.
Susan Cusmano, a business and technology teacher in our middle school, submitted a handful of projects her 6th grade computer students worked on throughout the school year and Tatyana’s and Claira’s were both recognized with awards!
In the grades 4-6 video category, Tatyana took 1st place for her short film, “Let’s Build a Snowman,” while Claira took 3rd for her piece, “Magical Snowy Forest.”
Both winning submissions are the fruits of a project Tatyana and Claira worked on in Cusmano’s class earlier this year.
“Students explored the art of stop motion animation by combining technology with storytelling. Using Google Slides, they designed and sequenced frames, carefully adjusting elements to create the illusion of motion,” explained Cusmano. “To enhance their animations, they incorporated visuals and design elements from Canva, elevating their projects with professional-quality graphics. Finally, they added finishing touches with music from Pixabay, giving their animations a polished, cinematic feel.”
This lesson not only introduced students to the principles of animation but also sought to foster essential skills such as planning, collaboration, digital design, and multimedia integration.
Then, in the grades 4-6 graphic arts category, Claira placed 2nd for her image of a fox standing amid a snowy landscape that she crafted using Google Drawings.
“For that project, students learned how to manipulate basic shapes—resizing, rotating, layering, and adjusting colors—to design their own original artwork,” Cusmano said. “The activity encouraged creativity while reinforcing essential digital design skills such as shape manipulation, spatial awareness, and visual composition. Students showcased their individual styles, resulting in a variety of imaginative and unique digital creations.”
Tatyana, Claira and Cusmano traveled to Paychex Theater at the Strong National Museum of Play last week for The Digies awards ceremony.
"I'm so proud of Tatyana and Claira for their incredible achievements at The Digies. The festival draws submissions from across the region so to be recognized is really a huge accomplishment,” said Cusmano. “Their creativity and dedication really came through in their submission and it’s so exciting to see their hard work recognized on such a big stage. They displayed a level of skill and professionalism well beyond their years - this is just the beginning for them!"
Tatyana Ennis’ short film, “Let’s Build a Snowman,” centers on a group of animal friends who come together to build a snowman on a snowy day. It took 1st place in the grades 4-6 video category at the 19th annual Digital Media Festival at Strong National Museum of Play.
Claira Deuel’s short film follows a regular fox who magically transforms into a snow fox. Then, it changes scenes to a pair of anthropomorphic foxes sitting near a campfire who encourage viewers to always be kind. Claira’s film took 3rd place in the grades 4-6 video category at the 19th annual Digital Media Festival at Strong National Museum of Play.
In the grades 4-6 graphic arts category, Claira Deuel placed 2nd for her image of a fox standing amid a snowy landscape that she crafted using Google Drawings.