On Schools
Students' WWII sites star on Net

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

Couldn't get tickets to a "Pearl Harbor" movie preview this week? Check out the Internet instead, where you can find some award-winning student Web sites that deliver the real story.

•	To view the sites, visit www.thinkquest.org/tqjr

In fact, Hawai'i public school students scooped four of the 16 awards this year in ThinkQuest Jr., a national classroom-based competition that encourages students in grades 4 to 6 to take a meaningful interest in computers and technology.

Those involved say the secret is hours of hard work from the students and their teacher-coaches. They combined their research and writing skills with some real computer savvy that resulted in eye-catching openers like the Japanese bomber that flies straight at the viewer on the Kapolei Elementary Web site, "A Day That Will Live in Infamy: The Bombing of Pearl Harbor."

The site won a silver award at ThinkQuest.

A top platinum award went to a team of six students from Kaimuki Middle and 'Aiea, Moanalua and Salt Lake elementary schools for their Web site, "Through our Eyes & Hearts & Minds — World War II: Past, Present & Future."

While the Hollywood "Pearl Harbor" is facing some criticism for being more entertainment than documentary, these students set out to make history come alive, showing readers what it was like to fight at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, what it was like for the Japanese families placed in internment camps and what it was like to be in Hiroshima the day the atomic bomb was dropped.

"For the children, it was a real eye-opener," said Lynne Sueoka, the team's coach. "The war was before their time, but eventually they realized they had relatives affected by it, which is where the idea of hearts and minds came into it."

The reality of war also touched the Kapolei students, who interviewed Pearl Harbor survivors at last year's 59th anniversary ceremonies.

"One student said when he interviewed one of the survivors he could see the pain and hurt he went through," said team coach Mike O'Connor.

Also winning two platinum awards at ThinkQuest Jr. this year was Enchanted Lake Elementary for its sites on dinosaurs, and Kaelepulu Pond, one of Hawai'i's vanishing wetlands.

Educators are praising the students' success as a remarkable achievement in a competition that included 463 entries from all 50 states.

"Why did we do so well?" asked Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen. "Because we're better than most people think we are."