Students Involved with Technology (SIT) Conference

The 11th Annual Students Involved with Technology (SIT) Conference for students in grades 3-12 takes place Saturday, February 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Stevenson High School. SIT is a unique technology conference for students, by students. Students in grades 3-12 participate in a full day of technology workshops learning from their peers, technology guest speakers, technology educators and mentors.

Students can choose from a wide variety of technology learning sessions and competitive activities throughout the conference day. Topics covered include robotics, gaming, forensics, hardware and software, Internet safety and more.  Students also can choose to be a SIT presenter and host a session teaching their peers. Presenters develop a 20-minute session on a technology topic of their choice; create a handout for their session, and field questions and answers at the end of their presentation. 

SIT strives to replicate an industry-level conference experience for its attendees, complete with a keynote speaker, a selection of presentations and demonstrations, snack and lunch.  The day concludes with a closing session with contest announcements, drawings and prizes. 

The deadline to register for the conference is January 17. Registration is $25 and includes a full day of sessions, T-shirt, giveaways, snack and lunch. Details about registration are available on the SIT Conference website at www.sitconference.org. All SIT participants must pre-register by the deadline date. No registrations will be available at the door.

The SIT Conference will be held at multiple sites throughout Illinois on February 12. In addition to Stevenson, other host sites include Carterville (Southern Illinois); DeKalb (Northern Illinois); Charleston (Eastern Illinois); Heartland Community College (Bloomington-Normal), and Woodridge (south Chicago area). Anticipated student participation between all six sites will reach over 1,500.

The SIT Conference is sponsored through the Bloomington-Normal Education Alliance Technology Committee, with partners representing Illinois State University, Heartland Community College, Unit 5, District 87, Olympia Schools, Regional Office of Education, Bloomington Public Library and State Farm. 

For additional information about the SIT conference in Lincolnshire, please contact Scott Meech at smeeech@gmail.com or Charlene Chausis at cchausis@d125.org. For general SIT conference information, please contact Deb Wylie at dkwylie@ilstu.edu or visit the conference website located at www.sitconference.org.