Date:  May 20, 2003
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

 The Prince William County Public Schools Media Production Services office has received the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2002 Taking Wing Award for public awareness.  The award recognizes Media Production staff for their involvement in a collaborative distance-learning project entitled “Winging Northward: A Shorebird’s Journey.”  The program was broadcast on May 8, 2002.

Over 500,000 grade school students across the Western Hemisphere participated in this “virtual” field trip on shorebird migration and wetland conservation in the Chugach National Forest in Alaska.  Test results indicated that students showed a 20 percent increase in knowledge about shorebirds after they watched the program, said Rebecca Nourse, District Ranger in a congratulatory letter to Ben Swecker, Supervisor of Media Production Services.
Swecker, John Bachman, Coordinator for Distance Learning Projects, and Richard Shahan, Video Coordinator will be honored at the June 4 School Board meeting.