Sacramento, California. On March 11 students from Oakland's Urban Promise Academy presented their video production of The Epic of Gilgamesh at the California State Student Technology Showcase in Sacramento. Their video featured student -produced movie trailers written, directed, and filmed by Julie Winter's 6th grade class as a follow up to their reading of the famous Epic of Gilgamesh and a unit of study on Ancient Mesopotamia. .

Showcase background. The California Department of Education sponsored the Second Annual Student Technology Showcase on March 11 2002 at the Sacramento Convention Center. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Easton, opened the conference -- details of which can be found at the showcase website http://www.cde.ca.gov/showcase. .

In 2001 the Student Technology Showcase drew more than 1500 visitors and featured technology - integrated projects presented by more than 200 students from throughout the state, including two projects from OUSD. (Sojourn to the Past from McClymonds HS and Remake of the Ballad of Gregorio Cortez from the Arts School).

This year's theme '"Beyond the Classroom" was dedicated to the power of educational technology and its positive effect on student learning and featured student presentations from each of the eleven California Technology Assistance Project areas. The student projects were carefully reviewed and selected by CTAP members and the Showcase Advisory Committee.

2002 Urban Promise's Epic of Gilgamesh digital video entry for 2002 was one of eight projects selected from Region IV (comprising Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Solano counties). Students from Urban Promise Academy read a version of the epic, created storyboards and short digital videos as "movie trailers" for the ancient Mesopotamian epic. This project is an integration of Language Arts and Social Sciences standards, as students took an historically important text and created original work. Students learned the significance of the development of writing systems on civilizations, as well as recognizing the common thread that heroic epics carry from the earliest legends to our modern day action heroes. Following their presentation, students answered a number of questions about their project from the audience.

Afternoon program. Following a short visit to the State Capital building during the lunch break, Ms Winter's students showcased their project for a second time at the conference Video Presentation Area, followed by a question and answer session from other participants and audience members. Both presentations were well received and attracted positive comments from audience members and other school districts. Students from the Urban Promise Academy were presented with special certificates from California State Senator Don Perata in appreciation of their work.

Other projects. In addition to video demonstrations, there were a number of web-based projects, Powerpoint presentations and a tribute to September 11th from a group of high school students in Laytonville, California. For this project, students used Adobe Photoshop to create a series of images that combined text and graphics to respond artistically to the September 11th tragedy. The resulting collage of images was displayed for the public at the Laytonville Post Office. Students from Kern High School created a WebQuest using the Library of Congress's American Memory Collection to gather information about how the American Dream has changed through the decades. Students related what they had uncovered from inquiry and research to their own American Dream and created a web page which allowed them to synthesize and defend their ideas. Middle school students from Danville created a Powerpoint presentation encompassing the cultural universals of early civilizations. Many of the projects centered on the academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education.