Steve Jobs Wins Title Of Most Influential American

Congratulations to Zach Brockmeyer who led Steve Jobs to the title of Most Influential American.  In a tightly contested final four, Jobs and innovator Thomas Edison advanced passed President Ronald Reagan and Social Activist Martin Luther King to move into the championship round.

The final round was voted on by an esteemed panel of professional educators at St. John Vianney High School and the panel determined that Jobs was the more influential of the two finalists on the strength of his Touchcast Video presentation and his creative use of a the new "ileader" app that identified all the contributions that Jobs has made to the United States.

Watch Zach's Touchcast video:



All semester long, students have been competing to take home mini-Pink Flamingos for winning various competition and project based challenges.  This morning, Zach was awarded the mother of all Pink Flamingos for his victory in the Most Influential American Tournament.  Congratulations Zach and thanks to all who faithfully followed the competition this semester.

Final Four Touchcast Videos

Here we go....the Most Influential American Final Four!  After a creative and competitive Elite 8 Round, let's see what the four surviving competitors have in store for us!

Ronald Reagan

VS.

Steve Jobs


Thomas Edison


VS.

Martin Luther King

Final Four Is Set--Reagan, Jobs, Edison, and MLK Advance

The final four in the Most Influential American Tournament is set.  The Elite 8 created some outstanding common craft videos that were really outstanding.  As such, the competition was fierce.

In the presidential bracket, Ronald Reagan routed George Washington  to advance to his first final four.  Reagan's common craft video was anything but common as the creativity and message resonated with voters and turned ol' George Washington into the 2014 version of Walter Mondale.  Click HERE for the outstanding video of Ronald Reagan.

In the Wildcard division, Steve Jobs advances to his second straight final four in a closely connected contest with Alexander Hamilton.  The strength of the iphone and itunes was strong as Jobs advances with a 2 vote victory.  Click HERE for the video of Steve Jobs.

Defending champion Thomas Edison advances to the final four and a chance to defend his title with a 6 vote victory over Alexander Graham Bell.  Edison used a strong offense identifying reasons how Edison perfected the telephone so that everyday people could use it.  The Wizard of Menlo Park will be a tough out in the final four.  Click HERE for the video of Thomas Edison.

In the tightest vote of the day, Martin Luther King squeaked out a 1 vote victory over Jackie Robinson.  The tight contest was a result of the strong respect the voters had for both social activists as well as the quality of the work of the videos.  Martin Luther King takes his nonviolent protests and his movement to improve the quality of life for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s and looks to win his first title in the Most Influential American tournament.  Click HERE for the video of Martin Luther King.

Final four voting will be decided on Tuesday!

Elite 8 Common Craft Videos and Voting

Here are your elite 8 matchups!!   Enjoy the effort and creativity of these guys!!
Great stuff here!!

Presidential Bracket
Ronald Reagan vs. George Washington

Wild Card Bracket
Steve Jobs vs. Alexander Hamilton

Innovators Bracket
Thomas Edison vs. Alexander Graham Bell

Social Activist Bracket
Martin Luther King  vs. Jackie Robinson

Reagan, Washington, Jobs, Edison, and King Coast To Elite 8

Some great match-ups with some quality work appeared the Sweet 16 round of the Most Influential American tournament.  With significant rewards on the line, the students held nothing back in hopes of advancing to the Elite 8.

In the Presidential Bracket, Ronald Reagan scored his second upset victory as he knocked off Teddy Roosevelt with a thorough demolishing.  Keep Reagan away from Mount Rushmore because he has knocked off Lincoln and TR in the last two rounds.  The compassionate conservative who once invoked Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" is trying to take down Mt. Rushmore completely.  Reagan will have one more chance at a face on Mt. Rushmore as he squares off with George Washington in the Elite 8 round.  Washington wiped out his former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson in a thumping not seen by Jefferson and his supporters since those pesky Barbary Pirates.

Click HERE for Reagan's  WE VIDEO presentation and click HERE for Washington's WE VIDEO presentation.

In the Wildcard Bracket, Steve Jobs went to work on Walt Disney pointing out how the company that Disney founded ended up buying Steven Jobs' Pixar Corporation because Pixar was dominating the animation market.  With the strength of that argument, Jobs was the "apple" of the voters eyes and won the vote going away.  A gripping video on the tragic death of Alexander Hamilton at the hands of his arch enemy Aaron Burr was enough to advance the father of modern banking to the elite 8.  Hamilton was able to trip up Lewis and Clark who finally have to end their journey at the Sweet 16.

Click HERE for Jobs' WE VIDEO presentation and click HERE for Hamilton's WE VIDEO presentation.

In the Innovators Bracket, Thomas Edison was the shining light in his thorough defeat of Henry Ford.  Edison used the argument that Ford had worked for him and Ford idolized Edison to differentiate between the two great innovators.  In the final tally, it was like a ferrari racing against a Model T.  Edison just had too much for Ford.  In our most tightly contested vote of the sweet 16, Alexander Graham Bell dialed up a victory over Microsoft mogul Bill Gates.  While Gates philanthropic endeavors earned him favor with some of the voters, the majority supported Bell and his creation of the telephone.

Click HERE for Edison's WE VIDEO presentation and click HERE for Alexander Graham Bell's WE VIDEO presentation.

In the Social Activists Bracket, using a unique presentation style that used no voice over just strong music, a simple approach drove Martin Luther King to the Elite 8 over abolitionist John Brown.  The non-violent protester King destroyed the violent upriser Brown in a match that saw King race out to an insurmountable early lead.  Noted speedster Jackie Robinson ran away from Susan B. Anthony in the other half of the bracket.  Robinson's talents as an athlete, businessman, announcer, and activist was too much for Anthony as voters recognized the many doors that Robinson opened and thus shut the door on Anthony eliminating our final woman still in the competition.

Click HERE for King's WE VIDEO presentation and click HERE for Robinson's WE VIDEO presentation.

Sweet 16 Matchups

Presidents Division

Ronald Reagan vs. Teddy Roosevelt


Thomas Jefferson vs. George Washington



Wildcard Bracket
Steve Jobs vs. Walt Disney


Alexander Hamilton vs. Lewis&Clark


Innovators Bracket
Thomas Edison vs. Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Bill Gates vs. Alexander Graham Bell


Social Activists Division
Martin Luther King vs. John Brown
MLK



  Susan B. Anthony vs. Jackie Robinson

Susan B Anthony

Upsets Abound In Sweet 16

The match ups were fierce throughout the the round of 32 in the Most Influential American Tournament.  With quality opponents and stiff competition, the need for a quality infographic was the key to success for this round of the tournament.  The round of 32 saw several upsets as #1 overall seed Abraham Lincoln was ousted by the compassionate conservative Ronald Reagan.  This is the second year in a row that Reagan has taken down #1 seed Lincoln.  Reagan will do battle with Teddy Roosevelt in the sweet 16.  TR spoke softly but carried a big stick and whacked it all over the head of Franklin Roosevelt in a thorough thumping of the New Deal president.  Two old rivals will meet in the other presidential match up as Thomas Jefferson knocked off James Madison providing sweet justice for the states' rights advocates and strict constructionists.  Jefferson will square off against his former boss George Washington in the sweet 16.

The social activists bracket saw two big upsets as #7 seed Jackie Robinson broke the heart of the great emancipator Frederick Douglass.  Robinson will do battle with the lone surviving woman in the field Susan B. Anthony who defeated the honorable Earl Warren in the round of 32.  While Douglass was ousted, John Brown (of Harper's Ferry fame) was able to keep his magical Cinderalla run alive by defeating #4 seed Eleanor Roosevelt.  The ladies of the bracket need to stay away from Brown as he has taken out Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Eleanor Roosevelt in the first two rounds.  Brown next matches up with Martin Luther King in the sweet 16.

The people went with the convenience of the modern world in the innovators bracket.  Thomas Edison was electric in his defeat of the Wright Brothers.  Henry Ford knocked off Albert Einstein as more voters could associate with the automobile than with E=MC2.  In a bit of a surprise, Bill Gates knocked off Ben Franklin as voters connected with the personal computer more than with all of Franklin's ingenuity.  Finally, Alexander Graham Bell dropped a bomb on Robert Oppenheimer and knocked him out of the competition.  In the sweet 16 Edison will do battle with Ford and Gates will tangle with Bell.

Finally in the wild card bracket, Lewis and Clark declared they were the greatest of all time as they knocked out Muhammad Ali and earned the highest total votes of any single person.  They will match up with the father of modern banking Alexander Hamilton who defeated Babe Ruth.  Walt Disney defeated Sam Walton in the second round and the father of the Iphone Steve Jobs wiped out Mark Twain to move to the Sweet 16.

First Round Action Complete--Top Seeds Stroll to Round of 32

Mr. Kevin Walsh's United States History Class opened up play in the Most Influential Tournament Bracket with 20 first round match ups.  Of the 20 match ups, 16 were won by higher seeds.  Teddy Roosevelt was the runaway winner of the first round as he jumped all over poor Ulyssess S. Grant who never saw the attack coming.  "I haven't been that surprised since Lee doubled back at Petersberg".  Grant said.  Other big winners were Jackie Robinson running all over labor leader Samuel Gompers.  Franklin Roosevelt scored a convincing win over Lyndon Johnson and #8 seed Upton Sinclair posted a very convincing victory over #9 seed W.E.B. Dubouis.

Three double digit seeds advanced to the round of 32.  The dreaded 5-12 match up in the Social Activist match-up saw John Brown go on the offensive against Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  The old abolitionist was up to the challenge and advances.  The highest seed to advance was #13 Sam Walton who knocked off #4 seed Henry Clay.  The Great Compromiser had nothing for the king of the cost cutting Sam Walton in the Wild Card Bracket.  Finally, #10 seed John F. Kennedy pulled off a surprising upset of WWI president Woodrow Wilson.  Kennedy had a strong push late in the day.  It wasn't exactly "Dewey defeats Truman" stuff but Kennedy made a nice comeback. Speaking of Truman, he bowed out against Ronald Reagan in opening round action.

It was good to be a heroic sports figure as Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, and Jackie Robinson all advanced pretty easily to the round of 32.

Winners in the presidents division:  Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt., Franklin Roosevelt, James Madison, and John Kennedy.

Winner in the Wild Card division:  Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Sam Walton, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali.

Winner of the Innovators bracket:  Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, and Robert Oppenheimer.

Winner in the Social Activist bracket:  Upton Sinclair, John Brown, Eleanor Roosevelt, Earl Warren, and Jackie Robinson

Check out the brackets below: