Two Fireweed Academy students this month won a statewide audio technology award for their work creating a podcast.

Every year the Alaska Society of Technology in Education holds a statewide contest for audio and visual presentations created by students across the state. The event was started in 2019 and new to the contest for 2024 are categories dedicated to digital art.

Last fall Homer’s Fireweed Academy reading and language arts teacher Krys Evensen assigned teams of students to create presentations through the medium of a podcast. Two of her fourth grade students, Kai Gregoire and Eli Busche-Vold, assembled a radio-style talk show with music called “The Football Cast.”

Evensen was notified at the recent February ASTE Conference that her students were awarded the lower elementary school (K-fourth) audio category for the state.

The award consisted of a certificate that came with a cash prize of $100. Fireweed held a celebration for the students in Evensen’s classroom last week that included the cash award, cupcakes and an invitation to their parents and school principal.