PrintIT! scoops awards double

PrintIT!, the industry-wide educational initiative to attract youngsters to a future career in print, has picked up two awards in recognition of its commitment to both education and industry: The EDSF ‘Innovation in Secondary Education’ award and a National Design and Technology Association award.

The 2007 EDSF (Electronic Document Systems Foundation) Excellence in Education Awards recognize educational excellence and innovation in preparing individuals for careers in the document management and communications industries. PrintIT! won the ‘Innovation in Secondary Education’ category for its contribution to innovative teaching efforts in preparing a future workforce. Previous EDSF Excellence in Education Award winners include Frank Romano, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Heidelberg Print Media Academy and the Typographic and Graphic Communications department at the University of Reading, UK.

Commenting on the award winners, Joel Cartun, EDSF vice chair for education said, ‘Educators and academic programs set the stage for tomorrow’s professionals.  Their dedicated efforts, innovative teaching and leading-edge educational programs not only benefit the industry, they also shape the minds that will develop how we communicate and use documents in the future.’

PrintIT! was also recognized at the recent Design and Technology Association 2007 Excellence Awards. PrintIT! project team member Joanne Hayes, who will be promoted to head of design and technology in September at Ashfield School in Kirby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, UK, was presented with the IED* Design & Technology award for her outstanding contribution to design and technology education. Hayes, a lead practitioner for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), wrote and curriculum-mapped the PrintIT! course to suit the requirements of the Graphic Products and Product Design GSCEs.

‘The success of PrintIT! is a testament to the commitment of all our key partners, sponsors and supporters throughout the industry who have enabled us to deliver an educational program that has introduced up to 38,000 students to the world of print,” said Paul Evans, project director of PrintIT! at Proskills. ‘With Proskills having recently taken over the leadership and management of PrintIT!, we have some exciting new plans to develop and expand the remit of the competition for 2007/8, which will further increase our opportunities to involve even more students going forward.’