HSD Videoconferencing

On February 18th, Hempfield High School Chinese II students had a opportunity to interact with the entire second grade from Mountville Elementary via videoconference!  The second grade students were currently working on Chinese New Year stories and activities.  They wanted to interact with the high school students who were learning to speak Chinese as well as studying the culture.  The second grade students learned some Chinese “greetings” and how to count to 10.  They also shared their beautiful Chinese artwork with the high school.  It was a great experience for everyone!

Xiaodong Fan and his students traveled to the Philadelphia Museum of Art through videoconferencing on Friday, December 18th. The Philadelphia Museum of Art was the first museum in the US to conduct educational programs via videoconferencing which started in 1995. Our program guide, Lynda O’Leary shared pieces of Asian art such as the crystal ball, dragon plate, Mandarin scholar and dog cage with our students. Our students especially liked the elaborate dog cage that gave us an idea of the luxurious lifestyle of the imperial court and the extravagant wealth extended to the dogs. We toured the reception hall of a Chinese palace built in the 1600’s which was brought here to the US piece by piece. The dignified beauty and decorations of the palace were quite impressive. We learned about tomb figures such as the fully laden camel that were buried with the dead. Potters used glazing techniques that produced rich tones of color on the figures. This was a great field trip for our students!

HHS ELL students participated in a collaborative project designed by the MAGPI Arts and Humanities Fellows team. Each participating school created a video to address the question “Do you ever feel that other Americans misunderstand or stereotype your culture in relation to religion, ethnicity, race, or traditions?” Schools from around the world participated in a videoconference to discuss their projects. Click here to see photos and view the projects created by Hempfield students and the other participating schools.

Sixth grade students saved 30 astronauts in the NASA e-mission simulation, Target Moon, at Centerville Elementary on May 1, 2009. The students participated in one of five teams - Communications, Comet Tracking, Moon Mapping, Crisis Management and Public Relations.

Black Knight’s E-Mission Experience
By Sarah and Elizabeth

Ready to go by 9:10 on this early Friday morning. Nervousness is filling the room. Stress might be visiting the teams as they are working.  The word “over” is ringing in my ears.  Mrs. Smith says there will be lots of commotion once the mission’s starts….Now.

30 astronauts, 3 moon bases, only one moon, and KC2035. What will happen? A smaller comet by KC2035 is the latest info. No one knows for sure what it will do, but it will probably hit the moon along with KC2035. The Communications Team thinks if all the teams do their jobs correctly, everything will be all right. They also will communicate to Mission Control by a chat room and videoconference.  The Moon Mapping Team will find the possibilities of danger to the lunar bases with all their math skills.  The Comet tracking Team will find the time of impact and how far the ejecta will expand.  The Crisis Management Team is trying to find ways to evacuate the astronauts. They already have some ideas to get them to safety. A member of the Comet Tracking says that the extra comet means double the work.  Right now, the Crisis Management Team might have found a way to evacuate the six astronauts to safety. Reporting all of this is the Public Relations Team, who translates this news to the public.

Down to 1 hour until the comet hits the moon; the stress is overflowing, especially for the Crisis Management Team. Breaking news- about 30 minutes until impact…the comet has just hit, and NASA has lost contact with all astronauts. No lives were lost from this impact. Mission Control has said “Congrats.  Great teamwork, and great work.”   This mission was complete success.  Mission Control has said that teamwork is key to a complete mission.

To hear a student produced podcast introduction the the e-mission click here and then scroll down to the entry “CES Black Knights e-Mission Experience”

On Friday January 9 the entire sixth grade at Mountville Elementary School participated in a videoconference on science careers sponsored by the MAGPI Fellows Career and Work Team. The presenters included Mr. Dave Staz, a food scientist from Turkey Hill, Mr. Brian Gross, a science teacher from Delcastle Technical High School in Delaware, Mr. Jennifer Yates, a research scientist from Montsanto Corporation and Mr. Dave Warren, a meteorologist from NBC10 in Philadelphia. Participating schools included Mountville Elementary, Neff 6th grade from Manheim Township School District, Gladwyne Elementary from Lower Merion School District, a high school class from Delcastle Technical High School in Delaware and Giggles Theater located in St. Joseph’s Medical Center in New Jersey. The students were very attentive, asked excellent questions and each site had an opportunity to continue to talk with their presenter after the videoconference ended. Mr. Dave Warren featured the videoconference event on the NBC10 5pm newscast when he presented the nightly weather report for January 9th. Mountville hosted Mr. Dave Staz from Turkey Hill who talked about bacteria contamination containment in the production of ice cream. Thank you to Mr. Staz for joining us for our videoconference!

More information about this videoconference can be found at this link. Science Careers IVC

The Chinese Program for the first semester of the 2008 - 2009 school year includes distance learning with Conestoga Valley, Ephrata and Manheim Central High Schools. There are nine students who are participating from the far end schools. These students are all learning Chinese I along with Hempfield High Schools students. Our Chinese teacher, Mr. Fan, combines the classes using videoconferencing technology to not only teach but for the students to practice dialogue and learn about Chinese culture. The students will all be participating in celebrating Chinese New Year at Hempfield High School on January 9, 2009. This event will be uStreamed on the Hempfield channel.