Students Get Creative for ORT’s Jewish Animation Competition. Top Prizes Go to Students in New Jersey and Oregon.
Talia Ray, from Yeshivat Noam in New Jersey, won first place.
ORT’s Jewish Animation Competition, open to grades 4 through 8, was held this spring. Talia Ray, a 4th grade student at Yeshivat Noam won first prize for her submission, “The Pesach Story, (told in the form of TV news reports, texts etc.). “I had a good time creating the animation with a Pesach story and feel proud that I made it up on my own,” said Talia. View Talia's video here.
Second prize winner, Noam Morris O’Glasser, a 4th grade student at Portland Jewish Academy won for his submission,”Noam Studios-the Ten Commandments.”
“I love bringing my "still" lego figures to life and making videos to share with my friends and family. I like carefully capturing each frame and moving the figures little bit by little bit to make the final video,” said Noam. View Noam's video here.
Noam Morris O’Glasser, Portland Jewish Academy, Oregan, won second prize.
The competition enabled students to combine creativity with technology to make their own animated clips based on Jewish stories and themes. Using a computer and/or smartphone, plus a few common household items, the student animators were able to showcase their videos and compete for cash prizes.
23 entries from seven-day schools were judged based on Jewish content and the ability to demonstrate an understanding of a Jewish story, tradition or practice and how well does the animation explains the topic. The other criteria looked at the visual appeal and how creative the clip was to watch. Finally, technical skill was evaluated based on the level of ability for each student.
The competition is part of the ORT Programming in the US Initiative, an extension of the already thriving ORT Camping Initiative that has brought innovative instruction and experiences for Jewish campers across the U.S. Earlier this spring ORT provided two introductory STEM courses, led by Moshe Leiba of World ORT Kadima Mada in Israel, for elementary and middle school students on animation as well as cybersecurity to a number of U.S.-based Jewish Day schools.
The panel of judges was made up of ORT America National Board and Pedagogical Committee members; Moshe Leiba, Deputy Director General and Chief Pedagogical Officer, World ORT Kadima Mada; and educators.
ORT is a leading global Jewish educational network, providing high-quality STEM education in more than 30 countries. Founded in 1880 to provide vocational training for Russian Jews, today ORT impacts the lives of 100,000 people each year. ORT’s vast experience in programming provides cutting-edge activities designed especially for young students, inspiring them to learn more and preparing them for the future.