Posted on: Thursday, September 9, 2004
WHAT WORKS
Tracing 'Ewa's path from sugar to suburb
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer
As suburban development changes the landscape of the 'Ewa Plain, students at Campbell High School are working to preserve the past through literature, photography, video and social science displays.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Now in the second of three years, the pilot project sends students out into their community to gather memories from longtime 'Ewa residents and learn about the community's current issues.
"We're trying to collect some of the stories about places in 'Ewa that mark our community as special and unique," said English teacher Ann Tanaka.
Students presented the best stories and photos at a performance last year, which is preserved on DVD and printed in a spiral-bound book.
Gathering memories of places that have vanished or are on their way to disappearing helps students understand what defines 'Ewa, which has come a long way from the sugar plantation town it once was.
"Our school logo shows sugarcane, but a lot of our students have no clue why there's sugarcane in our school logo," Tanaka said. "They don't even have a concept of what it was like."
Oscar Ramiscal said this year his TV production students will expand their role, conducting their own on-location interviews, rather than just recording the English students' performances. Erica Suzuki, 16, looks forward to conducting interviews on camera. "It's a good way to get a better appreciation and knowledge of the community," she said.
Hana Staruszkiewicz, who graduated last year, worked on the project in her English, photography and psychology classes. Staruszkiewicz, who has seen many changes in 'Ewa in the nine years she has lived there, thinks it is important for students to chronicle 'Ewa's past and present.
"We all need to know where we came from," she said.
If you know of a schoolteacher, group or program that has produced great results, help us spotlight them by sending information to tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or What Works, Honolulu Advertiser, 605 Kapi'olani Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96813. For more details, call 525-8014.
"Voices of the 'Ewa Plain" is an interdisciplinary collaboration among English, photography, TV production, psychology and sociology classes.
Campbell High School photography teacher Jamie Dela Cruz, Kin Shing Cheng, 2003 graduate Hana Staruszkiewicz, and English teacher Ann Tanaka review material for a history of 'Ewa.
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| HOW IT WORKS
LESSONS LEARNED: Examples help. Tanaka and photography teacher Jamie Dela Cruz anticipate this year will be easier because students have examples from last year's work, which will give them a better idea of what their end product should look like. "It was a problem last year because it was wide open and they could do anything," Dela Cruz said. THE KEYS TO SUCCESS: For the students, the formal presentation helped drive home how important their work was. "Having an end product that includes an outside audience makes the project so much more meaningful and significant to the students. They're willing to put a little more time into it once they see that process," Tanaka said. HOW THEY DO IT: English students interview longtime 'Ewa residents, then pass their stories on to the photography class. Photo students search archives for old photos and take new ones to illustrate the stories. Last year the TV production students recorded the oral presentation, but this year they will do their own on-site interviews and record oral histories. Psychology and sociology students went out into the community to research the significance of locations in 'Ewa, then created visual presentations. |
