HSD Videoconferencing

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.

On April 24th, Mrs. Miller and her health class participated in a MAGPI sponsored event titled, “Inner World Discovery”.  This videoconference helped the high school students explore the immune system through an interactive multimedia presentation which took a trip through the human body.  The program was designed by Phillip Silverstein, Riddle Memorial Hospital’s emergency room doctor.   Dr. Silverstein discussed the complexities of understanding the immune system as well as explained the devastating effects of HIV.  Our students enjoyed the event and many had their first experience with videoconferencing.

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

We will begin 2009 with several videoconferences. On January 9th sixth grade students at Mountville Elementary students will participate in a MAGPI videoconference exploring careers in science. Mrs. Elizabeth Hershey’s class at HHS will interact with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 12th to explore history through music. Three HS world language classes will be participating in the Read Across the Planet event at the end of February and more events are being planned including AP Art, ceramics, American History collaborations and an e-Mission videoconference with the NASA Challenger Learning Center.

On December 9th, Mrs. Kautter’s dance class participated in a video conference on Hip Hop run by ArcheDream for Humankind, a dance company from the Philadelphia area. Hempfield High School joined two other schools for an hour and a half program. Students learned some of the history of Hip Hop and were given instruction on some basic dance moves by instructors at ArcheDream. At the end of the conference, students at each school were given the chance to freestyle and show off their own moves for the other participants.

The conference presented some unique challenges. Audio is a key part of dance, and can be one of the most difficult parts of a video conference to get right. While there were some problems with both the sending and receiving of audio, the students adapted and were able to successfully participate. The lessons learned with this conference will be useful as Hempfield attempts more performance oriented student video conferences.

On December 4 six HHS students participated in the MAGPI PEW Fellows in Music Composition videoconference. Students from eight schools from Ontario to North Carolina to Pennsylvania were introduced to Gerald Levinson and Peter Paulsen through a documentary of their life followed by a panel discussion. Our students took advantage of this opportunity to ask these musicians questions about their professional interests.

We have two upcoming videoconferences planned for December. On Dec 4 students will be participating in a panel discussion with PEWS Fellows for Music Composition sponsored by MAGPI. Then on December 9 Mrs. Pat Kautter’s theater students will participate in a hip hop videoconference with ArceDream. A brief description of this IVC is below. We are very excited to offer this opportunity to our students through MAGPI.

” How can hip hop movement and break dancing contribute to conflict resolution? Join us for this engaging demonstration and virtual student workshop aimed at exploring the use of dance toward conflict resolution. The videoconference agenda will include a brief history of hip hop and ADHK artists will demonstrate locking, popping, up-rock & b-boy styles of break dancing. Participants will practice step-by-step breakdowns of the movements. “

On Thursday November 20 three Hempfield High School students participated in a MAGPI sponsored event that explored dance styles with the 2007 Pew Fellows in Choreography. The format of the event was a showcase documentary of each choreographer’s work, Charles O. Anderson, Dorothy Gordon Wilkie and Kate Watson-Wallace, followed by a panel discussion. Our students appreciated the opportunity to interact with these artists and look forward to more videoconferencing events that focus on dance and choreography.

Link for 2007 Pew Fellows Documenaries

Mr. Lehman and 7 of his AP Art students participated in a videoconferencing event sponsored by MAGPI on Tuesday, November 18th.  Hempfield was one of eight schools that were present for the session.  The students viewed the works of the 2007 Pew Fellows in craft - Ed Bing Lee, Adelaide Paul, and Julie York.  They learned about the artists’ inspirations, influences and ideas that go into creating their works of art.  The students also  participated in a discussion with the panel of artists.  The students were excited to explore future videoconferencing opportunities.