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2006-07-06
Chicago Students Capture Top Honors in Hostway’s 4th Annual Web Design Contest
Sudents from Notre Dame and Maine South High School took top honors in a contest to find the best Web sites designed by Chicago area high school students.
Dmitry Barsky, 18, the top winner of Hostway’s contest, redesigned his high school’s Web site, www.ndhsdons.org to create an online destination for the entire Notre Dame community including parents, current students, prospective students and alumni to come together. Andrew Cichowski, 18, the runner-up, who will be attending the University of California, Santa Cruz in the fall, designed the Web site www.plumcreek4seniors.com.
Each student was awarded a Dell Inspiron B130 laptop. The top winner also received a $1000 scholarship and the runner up took home a $500 scholarship from Hostway Corp., the Chicago-based contest sponsor and one of the world’s leading providers of Web hosting and online services. The “Web Developers of the Future” contest was co-sponsored again this year by Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Council of Technology Advisors.
“This is our fourth year holding the contest, and I am very proud to say that it is getting more and more difficult to judge each year,” said John Lee, VP of marketing and co-founder of Hostway. “Hostway is dedicated to furthering Chicagoland’s growth as a technology hub. In order for this to happen, it’s imperative that Chicagoland technology companies inspire our youth to dive head first into today’s cutting edge technologies.”
Barsky, the top winner of the contest and graduate from Notre Dame High School, launched www.ndhsdons.org the summer of his freshman year. Since then it has received over 14 million hits, which is a strong indicator of the size of the Notre Dame community and how frequently the community utilizes the site.
“I started toying around with Web design when I was in 6th grade and it’s still exciting every time I create a new Web site,” said Dmitry Barsky. “The creation of this particular site was an incredible learning experience for myself and I believe it gives Notre Dame an immense marketing tool, as well as forges a strong relationship between the staff that maintains the Web site.”
Barksy is a very motivated Notre Dame graduate interested in Web design. He has designed many other sites for his alma mater and various other local organizations and will be attending Illinois Institute of Technology in the fall to major in architecture.
Cichowski, runner-up of the contest, created his site www.plumcreek4seniors.com as a marketing tool for his friend’s father’s business, a Supportive Living facility for senior residents. The Web site is a great source of information for those who are considering supportive living for themselves or someone they care about, as it provides essential information such as location, services and a preliminary application.
“I strive for continuity in shape, color and messaging in all my Web site designs,” said Andrew Cichowski. “My design approach was therefore perfectly suited for this project as a portion of the audience is elderly and somewhat new to using the Internet.”
Cichowski started designing Web sites in 2003 and is completely self-taught. He also founded a graphic design and computer repair company called Broken Glass. In the Fall he’ll be attending the University of California, Santa Cruz to double major in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and film.
“The talent of these winners and the other students that entered Hostway’s contest amazes me,” said Lee. “This generation of Web designers is truly going to make a mark on the technology arena - and we are all looking forward to it.”
Chicagoland area students submitted original Web sites for judging. Contest entries were reviewed and winners selected by a distinguished panel of judges, including, Michael Krauss, co-chair of Chicago Mayor Daley’s Council of Technology Advisors; Lucretzia Jamison of Junior Achievement/Chicago and Hostway’s vice president, John Lee. Students competed on the basis of content structure and navigation, visual design, functionality and success of their Web sites.
About Hostway
Hostway Corporation provides domain registration, Web hosting, Web design and online marketing services to more than 400,000 customers worldwide. Hostway helps individuals, small businesses and large enterprises achieve more value from state-of-the-art Web-based technologies by reducing their complexity and cost. Founded in 1998, Hostway is one of the five largest Web hosting companies in the world with offices in North America (Chicago (HQ), Austin, Tampa and Vancouver), Europe (Belgium, France, Frankfurt, Hannover, London and Netherlands), Asia (Korea) and Australia (Sydney). For more information about Hostway Corporation, please visit www.hostway.com or call 1-866-467-8929.
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