The University of Louisiana at Monroe will host the second annual Louisiana High School Technology Challenge 2007/2008, a statewide online technology competition held during regular school hours Wednesday, Dec. 5. The competition encourages high school students to prepare for Louisiana's future.

Every high school in Louisiana is encouraged to participate in this educational event by registering a student team. During the inaugural competition last year, 56 high school teams made up of approximately 800 students competed online.

Mike Beutner, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction, is pleased the competition was met with such enthusiasm.

“The Technology Challenge proved that we underestimated the ability of hundreds of high school students in finding, analyzing, and processing information available on the Internet. That's a great mistake to admit. ULM is proud to offer a mechanism for recognizing excellence in Louisiana high schools.”

Congratulations to these top 5 finishing high school teams:

• 1st Place: L. W. Higgins (95.6 percent), Jefferson Parish
  
• 2nd Place: St. Joseph's Academy (93 percent), East Baton Rouge
  
• 3rd Place: Eunice (92.4 percent), St. Landry Parish
  
• 4th Place: Delhi (91.5 percent), Richland Parish
  
• 5th Place: Catholic of Point Coupee (90.5 percent), Pointe Coupee Parish
  

All team applications must be mailed and postmarked by Monday, Nov. 19. Since the competition is entirely online, no travel is involved. If interested, visit: www.ulm.edu/~techchallenge/