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Tech Directions magazine honored Onalaska High School’s Web site as its Web Site of the Month.

This student site was created and is maintained by Andrew Sahlstrom, a student of Jason Ludwigson, technology and engineering teacher at OHS.

Asked how he came up with the concept for the OHS Student Web site, Andrew replied, “I got ideas from other school Web sites and incorporated those ideas and my own ideas for the site.”

In terms of the technology he has used, Sahlstrom said he uses many different programs, including Dreamweaver for creation of the site and Fireworks for picture editing and navigation design. For more in-depth picture editing, he also uses Photoshop.

Generating content for a Web site is always an ongoing concern. Sahlstrom said he sends school-wide e-mail messages to all OHS teachers, informing them about the Web site and keeping them updated on his progress. “I also ask for any input, updates, or other information that they would like to see on the Web site.”

Sahlstrom has an independent study Web design class every day that he uses to keep the site as up to date as possible. He also spends a lot of after-school time working on it.

When asked what problem-solving strategies he has used in designing and maintaining the site, he said, “I look for the origin of the problem and try to find a solution.

While Sahlstrom is something of a natural at creating the Web page, he also works hard at problem-solving strategies. “I spend a lot of time reading manuals and looking up information on how to make Web sites better and easier to navigate through.”

He also took a college-level Web design class a couple years ago. “In between the time I took the class and the present, there’s been a lot of experimenting,” he added.

During the first semester of the Web site’s operation last fall, Sahlstrom was the only person working on it. In the second semester, two classmates, James Pauer and Jerry Rank, have joined him as co-Webmasters.

When asked how he and others benefit from having the Web site, Andrew replied,

A lot of people benefit from the Web team’s work. “The Web site gives students and parents access to information about what is going on at school,” Sahlstrom said. “It gives teachers the opportunity to post information for their classes so students can access it easily. Some teachers have links to other sites for studying purposes.

“The whole world is becoming more and more technological, so having this Web site helps to fit in with the rest of the world,” Sahlstrom added, “and make it that much easier for teachers and students alike to gather the information that they need.”

Reprinted by permission from the March 2008 issue of Tech Directions magazine. To view this issue visit http://www.techdirections.com/past-issues.html/