Congratulations to...

Mouse Squad of the Year:
Chicago's TechCrew from Eli Whitney Elementary School

and

Best New Mouse Squad of the Year:
New York City's Baruch Tech Team from Baruch College Campus High School!

Who Got Nominated?
Squads from across the country were asked to nominate themselves for the ultimate glory of being named Mouse Squad of the Year. These are Squads that go above and beyond, providing tech support for their school, being active members of the Mouse Squad Network, and taking on special projects. The Mouse Squad of The Year marks not only the Squad's outstanding contributions, but their growth as a team and enthusiasm for their work. We had tons of fantastic nominations this year and it was a very hard choice to make. In the end the Eli Whitney TechCrew and the Baruch Tech Team took home the wins. Read more about these awesome Squads below!

Honorable Mentions to other Extraordinary Submissions!

This year's decisions were extremely tough. We received a lot of submissions for amazing Mouse Squads. We would like to give special Honorable Mentions to the Digi-Sharks of PS/MS 188-The Island School in New York City and to the Mouse Squad of Coronado Middle School in Coronado, California. You are both doing outstanding work in your schools and and we are incredibly proud of you!

We also want to recognize the outstanding contributions of ALL of our nominees for their awesome work. Keep it up!

About Eli Whitney's TechCrew!

The TechCrew of Chicago's Eli Whitney Elementary School had a tough start to the year when their Coordinator took a leave of absence. Despite this, the Squad kept the school's technology in tip-top shape. They stayed in touch with their Coordinator while she was away and were able to resolve problems and close cases on their own until she returned!

Now that their Coordinator is back, the Mouse Squad meets after school three times a week to distribute cases, work on projects and make sure everything is running smoothly. This year, the school received new Mac laptops and iPads! The only problem was the school only had PCs before! What would they do? Don't worry, the TechCrew trained themselves and their teachers how to use the new computers and how to sync them with iTunes accounts! In addition, this Mouse Squad submitted a whopping TEN mind-blowing DIY projects this year.

Here are some more examples of their work:

• Want to remove those pesky vocals from your favorite song so you can sing it karaoke-style? Click here to find out how!
• No headphones? Learn how to make a Post-It Note Speaker with stuff in your classroom!
• Click here to learn how to calculate resistor values for your next Garage Robotics project!

Congratulations Eli Whitney TechCrew on being Mouse Squad of the Year!

About Baruch Tech Team!

The Mouse Squad at Baruch College Campus High School in New York City may have only been around for one year, but they already have a secret handshake, a special logo and a one-of-a-kind robot! Each student in this Squad is responsible for maintaining particular pieces of technology throughout their building. Each Team member created their own regular maintenance schedules to check on the school's technology, while others taught themselves Python, created a video on the Do's and Don'ts of laptop use for students at their school and blogged about all their experiences!

In addition to all that, the Baruch Squad found time to create and submit EIGHT awesome DIY projects in lots of different formats and about lots of different topics.

Here are some more examples of their work:

• Learn how to make a musical greeting card for that special person in your life!
• Whoops, you forgot your calculator! Don't worry, you can just program one with Python!
• Tired of PowerPoint? Why not try a Prezi instead?

Congrats Baruch College Campus High School for being Best New Mouse Squad of the Year!

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 everyone in Mouse Squad is still a winner.

We can’t wait for your submission next year! Keep being awesome Mouse Squads!