Children ranging from third to 12th grade will get a chance to show their tech-savvy skills Saturday during the Students Involved with Technology Conference in Buzzard Hall.

From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., students will lead and learn during sessions centered on varying forms of technology including digital painting, video and audio editing, robotics, and photo editing. The conference’s theme is “All Hands On Tech!”

Students lead and develop the sessions that last for 20 minutes, and they include a handout and a question and answer period.

Janna Overstreet, the event coordinator and the dean of the School of Continuing Education, said 140 attendees signed up for the conference and 32 volunteers have been called to help handle the event.

In addition to the sessions, students will take part in contests including a mystery project challenge and a logo design competition for next year’s conference with the theme “To The Cloud and Beyond!”

“The local winner (of the logo contest) will receive a $25 gift certificate and be considered for the statewide contest,” Overstreet said.

The conference schedule includes some Eastern faculty and students leading sessions.

Keith Sutterfield, a sophomore communication studies major and a student assistant in the Center for Academic Technology Support, will be the keynote speaker for the event. Sutterfield specializes in video production and has won three Student Television Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Antoine Thomas, the training and development specialist for the Center for Academic Technology Support, is scheduled to present two sessions of “Things You Need to Know,” a program on social media including YouTube and Facebook.

Mark Rubel, the director of the Eastern recording studio, will present the session “Exploring Audio Technology.”

Judy Barford, a professor of early childhood, elementary and middle level education, will host a trivia session using Turning Point clickers with American history questions.

This is the second year that Eastern has hosted this conference.

Eastern is just one of six locations in Illinois that will simultaneously host a Students Involved with Technology conference.

Other locations include Heartland Community College in Normal; Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire; Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Woodridge; Dekalb High School in DeKalb; and Glenview Middle School in East Moline.

Kimberly Foster can be reached at 581-2812 or kafoster@eiu.edu.