Mouse Squad of the Year:

Halsey's Mouse Squad from J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey in NYC.

and

Best New Mouse Squad:

KMS Squeak Squad from Kuna Middle School in Idaho.

Let's Hear about Our Winners!

About Halsey's Mouse Squad

The decision this year was very difficult, but ultimately we decided to name the Mouse Squad of J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey in Queens, New York the 2014 Mouse Squad of the Year. Halsey's Mouse Squad has been together for over eight years, with a current lineup of 45 students who meet three times a week. Their coordinators give them a number of special projects to work on, and they are a key resource for the implementation of new technology in the school.

Halsey Squad Members have been frequent MicroProject contributors and have received recognition on the Wire for their work. They have gone above and beyond to create projects like board games from our Serious Games Certification and robots for our Garage Robotics Certification. Squad Members learn to use 3D printers and are a mentor school to schools in NYC that are new to 3D printing, and they even participated in a special opportunity to work with the American Museum of Natural History to 3D print models of dinosaurs. Halsey's Mouse Squad Coordinators led a Digital Meet-Up about Maker Spaces and DIY technology and media projects to encourage other Mouse Squads to take on more fun hands-on projects. You can even check out their website here.

It is this combination of special projects and school support that makes us so pleased to declare Halsey's Mouse Squad the Mouse Squad of the Year for 2014!

About Kuna Middle School

Our Best New Mouse Squad this year is Kuna Middle School in Kuna, Idaho. When Kuna Middle School received 800 Chromebooks as part of a grant, their Mouse Squad stepped up to support all of them. Squeak Squad maintained and kept track of the Chromebooks so teachers could focus on teaching. Along with technical and organizational support, Squeak Squad students also helped with training. They were charged with the task of teaching their peers how to safely and respectfully communicate online with their new Chromebooks. After receiving training during Mouse Squad meetings, Squad Members went back to class to present the training to their peers. This training model helped ALL students in the school take more ownership of the huge responsibility that comes along with communicating online. AND in their first year, the Squeak Squad closed nearly 250 cases in CaseTracker!

The Squeak Squad also went to the Idaho Education Technology Association annual conference to represent their school and talk about all the work that they do. One student even presented to the House and Senate Idaho State Education Committees! Talk about repping your Squad!

You can find out more about the Squeak Squad at Kuna Middle School on their own website! Congratulations on all your hard work, Squeak Squad -- it's easy to see why you are the Best New Mouse Squad of 2014!

Honorable Mentions

It was incredibly hard to make these decisions. We got so many great submissions from so many great Mouse Squads, and it was tough to choose only two winners. So with that in mind, we want to recognize some other Squads that are doing really great work.

Valley View Middle School, Pleasant Hill, CA

Valley View's Mouse Squad keeps technology working in their middle school. We loved how inclusive their team is, featuring students from their general and special education programs. Valley View's Squad excels in professionalism, staying calm when tech questions get complicated. They are a great example of a Squad that provides amazing tech support to their school and outside community, with incredible student leadership.

Brooklyn College Community Partnership, Brooklyn, NY

The BCCP Electro Wizards are also tech masters, supporting technology at their site and engaging in a number of different high-tech projects. Whether learning hardware, software or networking, BCCP Squad Members are always working on something new. They also created their own opportunities for special projects, hosting a group of 45 9th grade students from iMentor to teach them team building exercises, and went in-depth with creative projects using websites like App Inventor and Coffeecup HTML Editor.

High School for Language and Diplomacy, New York, NY

The High School for Language and Diplomacy here in New York City also did a ton of great work. They wrote one of the most heartwarming essays we have read as an entry for the Mouse Squad of the Year title, sharing how Mouse Squad has pushed their Squad Members to dream bigger. They had an incredible amount of passion for using their maker skills to help improve the world and turn it into a better place to live.

Wow!

It’s amazing to see Mouse Squad students making such a difference in their schools, communities and in their own lives. We wish we had more prizes to give out, but remember that, really, everyone in Mouse Squad is a winner for all the great things you do every day!

We can’t wait for your submission next year! Keep being awesome, Mouse Squad Nation!