Scott Bendler, Susie Larson, Carrie Tracy

Teacher Applicants: Scott Bendler, Susie Larson, Carrie Tracy
Project Title: Life Stories
School: Bryan Community School
Grade: 10-12

Project Summary:
 The “Life Stories project was a collaboration between Elder residents of the community and youth attending Bryan Community, an alternative high school. The students’ assignment was to use various resources to gather information from the Elders. The end result was a movie with the Elders’ Life Stories being told.

 Students were matched with Elder partners after hearing descriptions of the Elders’ interests and hobbies. Students met with their partners every Wednesday for 12 weeks and were given an opportunity to get to know one another. Elders met their student partners at the high school to maximize the interview time, access to Internet, and use of technology resources. Students interviewed the Elders and also collected photographs and persona memorabilia. Questions for the interviews were identified through The Remembering Site (a web-based program for recording personal life stories). The choice to use the high school as a meeting facility was intended to help build positive relationships and dispel any negative attitudes about high school youth. In addition, other students in the school benefited from observing the interactions of their peers and Elder partners.

Learning Objective:

1. To help students gain technology skills
2. To foster a sense of empowerment
3. To provide students the ability to volunteer and to learn from such participation in the local community
4. To foster positive identity development
5. To engage students in ways that will foster the development of critical thinking skills

Use of Cable Programming and/or Technology:
 Prior to meeting with the elders, students viewed several programs and held discussions on what to anticipate when meeting with people from a different generation. Biographies on the A&E channel and programming on Immigration and Ellie Island from the History Channel supplemented these lessons on life during the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s. Students interviewed their elder partners using questions from The Remembering Site www.theremberingsite.org (a web-based program for recording personal life stories). The students and teachers accessed the Atomic Learning site, www.atomiclearning.com, to assist them in learning the programs they needed to put these movies together; this site has tutorials on many computer applications.

Effectiveness:
 The final documentary DVD, “Life Stories,” featuring all of our Elders’ stories was aired on the Time Warner Cable Educational Access Channel (channel 21). This public viewing opportunity on Channel 21 allowed all 5 main learning objectives to be met. Objectives were not only met within the original class but for the community as a whole.

 The “Life Stories” project went beyond what it was ever intended to! The stories and interactions with our students were so powerful that we were invited to showcase this project at the Ross Movie Theatre. This local theatre allowed the students to invite their elder partners with family members to view “Life Stories” on the big screen.

Benefits:
 By learning new technology skills and applying them to create these Life Stories, students experienced a great sense of pride. With their efforts being recognized by the airing of “Life Stories” on the Educational Access Channel 21, students realized the scope of this project and the powerful effect of storytelling using media.

 This project exceeded any expectations we originally had and the benefits of doing it continue today. The relationships that were formed during this project changed many opinions and stereotypes from both the elders and students entirely for the better. With help from faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Office, an independent evaluation of the “Life Stories” project was conducted. Here are a few quotes from people assessing it:

 “Life Stories is a truly innovative endeavor that has been very well executed. It is a program that has the capacity not only to inspire students, but also the elderly participants and their families, and other educators, It is these types of projects that encourages active learning, and prepares students for (and takes education into) the 21st century. –Maria De Guzman PhD, Assistant Professor UNL Child Youth & Family Studies

 “The integration of schedules, technology, history, communication barriers as well as the numerous hardware and software skills was done very carefully and Susie and the staff at Bryan handled this quite well. The Bryan community has inspired students to embrace technology, accept cultural boundaries and master curriculum integration. The impact of this project will have on the lives of students at Bryan as well as the community will be forever solidified in the hearts of all”-Dan Senstock, Director of Video/Recruiting Education