Hurrah for the folks

Family values seem to dwindling in the lives of the young generation these days. Spending time with and being appreciative of families are things that we do not commonly hear about. At our school, we are trying to teach students to ‘Give Thanks and Give Back’. The first step is aimed towards their families. Through this project, we would like some of our students to be able to take the LEAD in strengthening family bonds by becoming thoughtful about the many ways in which families (parents/ grandparents/ siblings/ guardians) care for and support them. A lot of our school community families are struggling financially. So, we would like to show we CARE by purchasing some digital cameras that can be sent home (in turns) for this project. Students will be encouraged to spend some quality time with their families and later take pictures/videos. The students would then learn how to organize the video clips into a movie that they can present to their families, hopefully by ‘Family Day’ in February, 2013. The digital work would teach them several aspects of Media Literacy as well. We hope that this will not only help create a keepsake movie for their families, but will also be a crucial step to CONNECT and strengthen family relationships. It will have a positive effect on familial well-being (help to THRIVE). A final presentation will be put together using clips from different students and will be shared at one of the school assemblies as well.

Update (April 5, 2013)

We are so pleased to have received this funding. We were able to buy four good quality digital cameras for the school with this money. After they were labelled and inventoried, students were given letters to explain that they would be getting cameras to take home on a rotary basis. They were encouraged to spend time with their families, especially the elders in their home or community and take pictures and videos using the cameras. Some of the students even wrote a script for their elders to interview them and ask about their lives.

Update (May 23, 2013)

Students had a great time interviewing their parents and grandparents and taking pictures with them. They were excited to take the digital technology home and to capture special moments with their families. At the same time, their homeroom teacher and the teacher librarian reinforced the importance of families and family values by reading them books about the topic and inviting discussion. As the students brought in pictures, we arranged them as a School PhotoWall with short paragraphs that the students wrote in honour of their parents and grandparents. It turned into a very emotional and heartwarming display for all school staff, students and visitors.

Update (August 21, 2013)

'Hurrah for the folks' turned out to be one of the most wonderful projects of our school this year! The students got to share some great moments with their families and recorded those to share with their peers and teachers in school, using the digital technology provided for our use through this project. As students brought in their stories, videos and pictures, teachers put those together as a multimedia presentation. The participating teachers could not resist adding bits about their own 'folks' as well. The final piece was students singing 'You raise me up' by Josh Groban which we were also able to video and include in the presentation. The presentation was showcased at one of our school's 'Give Thanks, Give Back' assemblies in front of the entire school, where the students' parents and elders in their families were also invited. The almost 20-minute long presentation drove several to tears and evoked heartfelt emotions towards parents and families. We would like to thank Imagineaction for the opportunity.