Rotterdam officials recognized students from Pinewood Intermediate School and Draper Middle School for their achievements after returning from an educational field trip to Hawaii.
At the beginning of December, fifth grader Ali Rojas and sixth graders Megan Reese, Mark Riggi and Attilio Tebano spent a week in Hawaii as the culmination of an electronic field trip program produced by Ball State University in Indiana called Eruption! An Island Rising From the Sea.
Ball State University puts together four electronic field trips a year in which teachers are asked to put together curriculum that is age-appropriate and based on state’s standards. Ball State University then creates a Web site for teachers to access and use the lesson plans. The Web site is full of games and activities, designed to make learning fun. About a month after the Web site is launched, selected students and teachers go on an actual field trip and produce two, 60-minute broadcasts as the culmination of the lesson.
`It’s an incredible experience for students to learn this way; it’s so motivating for them,` said fifth grade teacher Jill Osinski. `These kids are learning in a way they never learned before and experiencing cultures of places they’ll never (otherwise) get to.`
Teachers Kim Coelho, Pat Rushby, who is now retired, Osinski and Kim Brassard secured grant money from Best Buy for the trip.
The group went to Hawaii to learn about the island from educators at Hawaii Volcano National Park, then brought the lessons home to students in Rotterdam and around the country.
To encourage students to interact with the Web site, Ball State University put together games and contests and sent prizes to the winners, including Best Buy gift cards.
Over the years, Osinski said the district has been awarded more than $30,000 in grant money to purchase technology equipment from Best Buy, including high-speed computers, video cameras, large-screen projection units and laptop computers.
Learning about Hawaii involved social studies, language skills, mapping skills, graphing and lots of math.
`It’s an integrated experience with all curriculum aspects,` Osinski said.
After spending the first bit of the year learning about Hawaii and volcanoes through the online lessons, the four students were chosen to go to Hawaii with the teachers.
`They did a speech, a public presentation and a project on volcanoes and earthquakes. They were judged on their academics, their ability to articulate in front of a camera and their creativity,` Osinski said.
During the week in Hawaii, the students were immersed in Hawaiian culture. They attended a luau, made leis and lived with other Hawaiian students.
`The whole trip was a learning experience. We were busy from sunrise to sunset,` Osinski said. `We went hiking and into the rainforest to learn about different birds and visited volcanoes and learned about earthquakes.`
Sue Rojas, Ali’s mom, said she was nervous about sending her child halfway around the world at first, but once she met the teachers and people she was going with, she completely trusted them.
While on the trip, students spoke with their parents through Web cameras.
`With the time difference, it would be 11 at night, and she’d be calling,` Sue Rojas said. `I’d have to throw on a sweatshirt and run downstairs.`
The students and teachers presented the school board with a slideshow they had created during their trip. Best Buy loaned the students digital cameras and laptop computers to document their experience.
At the Monday, Jan. 8, meeting each of the four students thanked the school board for the opportunity to participate in the field trip and shared their favorite parts of the trip.
Ali Rojas said, `My favorite part was doing the hula.`
Megan Reese said, `Thank you for this amazing experience. My favorite part was taking a hike through lava flow.`
`I am very proud of all of them. They did such a great job,` Sue Rojas said, `She [Ali] can tell you anything about volcanoes now.`
For information about electronic field trips visit www.bsu.edu/eft/home/00front.htm. More information is also available at www.mohonasen.org/grade5/crows/crow.htm. And the students’ slide show can be viewed at www.photoshow.net/watch/WC8jv6wd.“