Local 8th Graders Produce Documentaries About Veterans for Largest Memorial Day Parade in Nation’s Capitol
Youngest invitees in the Nation and only reps from San Diego to attend Stories of Service Call to Service National Rally
SAN DIEGO, CA-May 6, 2009
This Memorial Day, when you turn on the television to watch the National Parade held in our nation’s Capitol, you might want to look closely for eight marching 8th grade students from High Tech Middle Media Arts, a public charter school in Point Loma’s Liberty Station, holding the large-format portraits of veterans they interviewed and produced documentaries about for a national service learning project called, Stories of Service. They are the youngest kids invited to Washington, D.C. to participate in a digital filmmaking bootcamp and to have the honor to answer personally the President’s National Call to Service.
Five months ago, the students who signed up to participate had no idea of the enormity of the experience they would have by getting involved with Stories of Service, a service learning project that brings together students and veterans to document the life and wartime experiences of the men and women who served our country using the power of digital technology. The program started in California’s Silicon Valley in 1998 by the Digital Clubhouse Network, a nonprofit created by NASA, that was one of the founding partners of the Veterans Oral History Project of the Library of Congress, and which has received three medals from the Smithsonian for its “visionary use of information technology to improve society.” Warren Hegg, founder of the Stories of Service organization, relates that from the veteran’s perspective, “they don’t die, they just go digital.” Five months later, Stories of Service is inviting the youngest participants in the nation to answer the call to service, and they will be flying out of San Diego on Memorial Day weekend to share the pride they have in the opportunity to represent a war hero at this year’s festivities.
After two successful screenings to more than 200 guests at the Veteran’s Museum in Balboa Park, where 12 videos were screened since March in honor of veterans from WWII to present-day Iraq, the students are on their way to gain more training to tell the stories of these fascinating and decorated men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country.
Seeing veterans walk through the doors of HTMMA to record a voiceover, or have a filmed interview has become part of the community vibe, as kids buzz for instance about the Pearl Harbor Survivor walking down their hallways. Their multimedia teacher, Zoe Randall, has seen a great leap in the interest students have in history as a result of their meetings with soldiers and sailors from WWII. “In today’s world, it’s not about teaching from textbooks, but about gaining a connection to the past through personal relationships and first-person accounts. To see a young girl learn about the Battle of Iwo Jima from a man who lived through those terrible days brought more meaning than any textbook lesson or dramatization in a movie. If we can bring history into the classroom through a real world connection, students will be more engaged and veterans also will feel like their service meant something to our younger generations. It’s the perfect model for a multimedia project that bridges history, technology, and today.”
As they get ready to leave for Washington, D.C. to make history and San Diego proud, these 8th grade students realize the great weight of their responsibility. Having been through the weeks it takes to produce quality storytelling, they too have served their time to make the memories of their veterans everlasting gifts for their families and friends. The students have shown their commitment to serve and give back to their community, but also know that these experiences and encounters can be life-changing. As one student remarked after telling the story of her neighbor who served during WWII, “At first Bill was just my neighbor down the street, but now he’s Bill, a hero from WWII. He’s my hero.”
We’ll be bringing back many more stories once we return from Washington, D.C., but I hope that this inspires many of you become a part of the story by making your own at the Stories of Service website , and make history come alive in your own community! And, help HTMMA keep the legacy of service going by contributing to make sure that our story shows others what is possible!
Also, please get in contact with Zoe Randall if you’d like to help or get involved!
HTMMA Multimedia Class Blog 