Stories of Service Second Screening A Hit!

8th Grade High Tech Students Invited to Nation’s Capitol

This Memorial Day, 8th grade students from High Tech Middle Media Arts will represent San Diego in the nation’s largest Memorial Day Parade as invited guests of the Stories of Service service-learning project. The students answered the President’s Call to Service at the West Coast Rally held at the USS Midway on January 19th and will complete their journey in Washington, D.C. this May. They are the youngest people in the nation to attend the Stories of Service digital filmmaking bootcamp and wreath laying ceremonies, and will have a chance to share the stories of our veterans community of San Diego as they walk with their veteran’s image in the national parade.

Stories of Service is a non-profit organization who’s mission is to mobilize youth to connect with veterans and to learn about history by capturing their stories of sacrifice and service in student-produced videos. Normally a project pursued by high schools around the nation, High Tech Middle Media Arts 8th grade students rose to the challenge with the help of their multimedia teacher, Zoe Randall to tell these stories of the people who fought for our country, especially those from the World War II generation which are fading at a rate of one every 90 seconds. Warren Hegg, founder of Stories of Service and their umbrella organization, Digital Clubhouse Network, phrased the importance of this project as a way of “saving these people’s lives forever.” He references a veteran who proclaimed, “they don’t die, they just go digital.”

When teacher, Zoe Randall, heard about this project from a colleague, she figured she’d pursue it and find more information about how to offer it at High Tech Middle Media Arts, a charter school in Point Loma which specializes in project-based learning. Two months later, the 8th grade students produced their first digital stories about local heroes and hosted a screening in their honor at the Veteran’s Museum in Balboa Park to an audience of more than 100 people. The Veteran’s Museum has now hosted two screenings and has been a pivotal partner in helping students find veterans stories.

As a teacher, she’s seen dramatic growth in her students and a joy in them to learn more about history. When a group of girls found a veteran from WWII, they met with him at school and conducted interviews to learn about his life and service in the Pacific and European theaters, which made them engaged in a subject that before their meeting was not very interesting to them. “Seeing the kids learn about their country’s history through the personal stories of the people who lived before them opens their eyes to the past, when in today’s world they live so technologically-focused on the future. The connections they make on both ends is one of the most valuable educational experiences I’ve witnessed, for it relates the generations and gives way to a safe venue for these people to share their most haunting, intimate stories that are in some cases the first time they’ve ever been able to tell them. As a media teacher, this project not only teaches kids how to produce quality videos but shows them how media can be used to change lives and make a difference.”

In a tough economy, the students are furiously trying to fundraise so they can pay their fare in Washington, D.C. throught bake sales and raffles, and are looking for support from the community in their efforts to give back. If anyone can help them get to this historic event and be there for San Diego, please make your donations to: HTMMA and send them to 2230 Truxtun Rd, San Diego, CA 92106.

In a time when news headlines are bleak and negative, it’s reassuring to have a bright hope in the students of today, our leaders of tomorrow. Thank you for reading our story of service!