Inverclyde Academy Champion Greatest Scot to win IBM Award
Entering into the spirit of Homecoming Scotland, IBM have been working with secondary schools across Central Scotland, to chose their Great Scots. Teams from the schools were tasked with making the case for who should be the Greatest Scot, with a trophy for the winners and prizes for the finalists.
The competition, which involved several heats, was made up of schools from Inverclyde, Ayrshire and Edinburgh, with the six finalists coming together at the IBM Greenock location. Judging in the final were John Reekie (Corporate Manager at Homecoming Scotland), Kate Randall (Director of Family Services for Commonwealth Games 2014) and Polly Purvis (Executive Director, ScotlandIS).
Inverclyde Academy was crowned champions for their excellent presentation of their Greatest Scot, James Watt. The team, made up of Rachel Stewart, Chantelle Martinez, Kevin Dinnie, Louise Fullton and Erika Patterson, impressed the judges with their passion and enthusiasm for the historic innovator.
The winning school will have their Great Scot commemorated through the naming of the executive briefing centre at IBM Greenock; in addition they received a trophy, tickets for Homecoming Live, back stage passes to the comedy Corstorphine Nativity and various IBM goodies.
Second place was awarded to Edinburgh school St George’s School for Girls for their presentation on Sir John Logie Baird and third position went to St Columba’s for their forward thinking, innovative style in presenting Chris Hoy as Scotland’s Greatest Scot. Other schools that made the final included, Greenock Academy, Portobello High and Queensferry High.
Fiona Kyle, Strategy and Business Development Manager and Programme Managing the Homecoming Scotland events at IBM in Scotland finished, ”IBM in Scotland is extremely proud of its heritage and this has been a fantastic way for us to celebrate Scotland and reflect on what it has achieved over the years. The students who have participated have shown real passion and enthusiasm for their Great Scot which has been an inspiration.”
As well as reaching out to Schools to help celebrate Homecoming Scotland, IBM has been reaching out to Scots abroad. Being a global organisation, employees have the opportunity to develop their career away from home. IBM has been connecting with personnel across the globe finding out what they are doing at the moment, what they miss about home and of course, who their Greatest Scot is, all in the name of Homecoming Scotland
All the schools used a mixture of media in their presentations, combining audio, video, slides, with audience participation, drama and excellent personal speaking skills.
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