Transfiguration Students’ Posters Win Spots in National Online-Safety Calendar

Posters created by two Transfiguration Catholic School students will be featured in 2014 calendars about online safety.

Madeline Sevigny, 11, and Amy Vievering, 14, are among 12 students from across the country whose artwork was chosen as part of the National Cyber Security Alliance competition.

The initiative, promoted through state officials with the Department of Homeland Security, aims to “get kids thinking about cyber safety,” said Christopher Buse, chief information security officer for the state of Minnesota.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said of having two Minnesota students win the nationwide contest. “This school does a really phenomenal job. Miss Terri Preiner—I’m so impressed by her.”

The Oakdale school recognized the students during an assembly Friday, May 3.

For their part, Madeline and Amy said it was “cool” to win the contest, and both enjoy art.

“It’s nice,” said Madeline.

They will be recognized at a state function on May 15.

Madeline and Amy are students in Terri Preiner’s technology class. Preiner said the classroom discussions involved safety on Internet, social media and smart phones.

The lessons featured everything from cyber-bullying to sexting, Preiner said, and also included a religious component. “What would Jesus do?” she said.

When it comes to bullying “it explodes exponentially when you add technology to it,” she said.

Preiner also said students learned that anything posted online can be seen later: “It’s no longer he said, she said.”

Students went through real-life scenarios to learn about cyber safety: everything from parties where all the youngsters are online to virtual gaming, Preiner said.

The poster contest is marketed to schools throughout the nation, but having two winners from one school was “wonderful to see,” Buse said.

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