RJ Stangherlin

Keystone Technology Integrator and STAR Discovery Educator

This site is for Mrs. Stangherlin's classes at Salisbury High School.

Photoblogging the IPs and PA Computer Fair

Screenshot of a typical photoblog, courtesy of Randy Ziegenfuss. 

Nothing like a new web-based tool.  Welcome to my newest foray into cool tools: photoblogging.  Very simple process, like an online yearbook or flickr with a flair.  You take photos, upload and resize them, and write a caption.  What makes it cool?  You decide.  Click here. 

21st Century Genocide: The Darfur Symposium

Under the guidance of Jennifer Brinson, assisted by Marge McGinty and Michele Honochick, students created an in-house field trip to address the crisis in Darfur.  Classes that attended the Symposium were given an overview before they attended.  The instruction began with discussing an article, “How to Prevent the Next Darfur: Step One--Get Serious About Climate Change,” by Alex Perry, writing from Iriba, Chad, the site of refugee camps.  The next step was viewing and discussing two videos: Crisis in Darfur and Searching for Jacob

The Symposium began with introduction that gave an overview of the current situation.  Students then viewed Darfur Diaries, a study of harsh survival against every odd.  The docudrama, filmed on site in 2003, detailed the genocide inflicted on native Africans by the Janjaweed.  Graphic and difficult to watch, the film depicts the decimated tribal villages and the experiences of the 200,000+ refugees who survived the terror of attack, still not always knowing the outcome of some of their family members.

The historical context of Darfur was presented by Ellen, Jacqueline, Melissa, Sam, Christina, and Brittney.  They traced the history of how the Sudan became Islamic and the problems of the current dictatorship that encourage ethnic cleansing of native Africans.  The current crisis and proposed United States response was presented by Sara, Kelsey, Jessie, Jennifer, Roxy, Nicole, and Britteny.  The students explored what the United States should do to remedy the genocide in Darfur, beyond labeling the situation genocide, which is only the starting point to resolution.

The current US response and actions not/taken by the US Congress were presented by US Representative Charles Dent.  This part of the program was a thought-provoking, intelligent, and animated Q/A among the students and Rep. Dent.  [the rest of this blog was written by Lauren] What the students said was what Dent needed to hear, because it allowed him to become aware of what students were capable of asking.  Questions ranged from the war in Iraq to what our country’s government planned on doing about the situation in Darfur. 

Juniors Lauren DeSieno, Lindsay Hoolehan and Courtney Loomis followed Rep. Dent with an informative presentation on what the students of Salisbury High School can do with the situation in Darfur.  At the Model UN at Georgetown University, Miss Brinson and Miss Honochick attended a conference where 2 students presented STAND and wanted to get the other schools involved in the program. These students advocated the STAND program to be introduced at their schools and to start their own STAND chapter. We introduced the program to the audience at the Darfur Symposium and got them to sign up for furthur STAND events.  The goal of the STAND presentation was to advocate what is going on in Darfur to the citizens of the United States, not just its government.  The Symposium wanted to show people what is happening in Darfur because Darfur affects us as the genocide continues to grow.  Rep. Dent came back in his Q/A to the war in Iraq because of the media coverage, but Darfur’s genocide continues and we need to take a stand. 

IP Debuts Tuesday with What If the Atomic Bomb Had Not Been Invented?

IP PRESENTATION SCHEDULE AT END OF BLOG.

Countless hours go into making a successful IP presentation.  Behind the scenes, many unsung heroes make the presentation appear seamless.  Let’s begin with the parents.  Recongize this father?  His Sunday began at 7 AM, along with the students.  He had already built one wall at home, assembled it on stage, and then began building the second set’s living room.  Seven hours later, he still had a third wall to go.  His garden picket fence is wonderful too--that came pre-constructed--and a perfect fit.  How many parents opened their homes all year, rerouted schedules, fed teams, provided help as only parents do--rehearsed lines, found vintage costumes.  I think I would be staggered by their list of behind-the-scenes-support, but I do know one thing: you are wonderful supportive parents and it shows in your children.  Thank you.

Then there are the IP Alumnae.  Stacy is the clicker for her sister’s team.  It’s up to her to sync the slides to the on-stage dialog.  Making the right image, audio, and/or video file play at the exact moment is an exercise in precision and practice.  Stacy was part of last year’s Family presentation, an all-time audience favorite, so she knows what it takes to make a presentation live in our memories long after the show ends. 

Remember Heather?  She’s a pre-med senior who designs sets for her college’s theater group.  Although she had no hand in this set’s design, she taught me the “center / center” rule for positioning the set’s design.  She came on board to help coach her brother, but she managed to help the entire team get better with each run-through.  Who could be a better coach than the team leader who not that long ago forever changed the shape and direction of the “Decades” project with their innovations.  It was a pleasure to sit back Sunday and watch Heather and Stacy interacting with the team.  Having the support of your siblings, who just happen to have gone through the process before, adds a helpful dimension that a teacher or parent just cannot replicate. 

When the going gets tough and we exhaust our collective resources--and that happens--we turn to our Instructional Technologist.  He’s a difficult guy to photo, so I am not so sure he will be thrilled I’ve blogged about him, but he really is the good guy to the rescue.  Often when we need him, we need him STAT, and even in a small school, it’s hard to work STAT.  No one probably knows that better than he does.  But he manages to get to us quickly with a smile on his face. 

And speaking of smiles, here’s one of my favorites.  Like the students, teachers value teaming with each other too, and what would this project be without everyone’s favorite.  She wears so many different hats and wears them well, but apart from being a superb person to team with as a valued colleague, she is also a wonderful friend--to all of us. 

After a year spent working toward this day, individual and collective efforts all coalesce into 45 very important minutes.

What would this project be without the commitment of the students.  How many hours have each of you invested in this project?  How many team hours? If we made a contest of guessing, I would be willing to bet that no one would come close.  So here’s today’s team, first out the gate, and that’s always a challenging place to be, so let’s support them and all of our teams.  On behalf of everyone who has ownership of this project at many different levels, we invite you to attend our four IP presentations.  We also invite you to join our conversation and post a comment below.  We would love to hear from you. 

ALL PRESENTATIONS BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 11:00 AM
5-15: WHAT IF THE ATOMIC BOMB HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED?  CAN A DISASTER BE A SAVING GRACE?
5-17: WHAT IF ROSIE NEVER RIVETED? CAN ONE IMAGE REPRESENT A NATION?
5-21: WHAT IF MARTIN LUTHER KING NEVER HAD A DREAM? WHAT HAPPENS TO A DREAM DEFERRED?
5-23: WHAT IF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS HAD ESCALATED TO WAR? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BREAKING POINT IS BROKEN?

Praise Long Overdue

I often wonder what is worse: no praise or praise long overdue.  I’m opting for the former, so I want to give praise that is truly long overdue.  Sometime in January, Mrs. Maciag involved her students in an essay contest about their Dream Job.  They had to construct an essay about a career they were interested in and research the essentials: salary, hours, schedule, required education, benefits, certification, job availability in locales, and how family life would be affected if they obtained the job.  Then, they had to retract the research with their own opinions by stating how they liked the job after researching it, and if they would pursue the career.  Two of Mrs. Maciag’s students, Mark Yorgey and Deaven Freed, won Honorable Mention and $100 Saving Bond.  They competed in a large field of entries, and our Salisbury community is very proud of them. 
In a Digital Storytelling Contest sponsored by PBS on the theme of Local Heroes, Dominic Butillo won First Place and an Olympus FE-180 digital camera.  He was honored at a luncheon at Channel 39, where he was accompanied by our superintendent, Dr. Mary Ann Wright, and our principal, William Hume.  Dominic’s local hero is his brother Todd, who recently returned from a tour of duty in the Middle East.  You can watch Dominic’s prize-winning entry, Real Heroes, by clicking here.

I owe a debt of thanks as well to students who helped me with this blog post.  Rebecca Jones recalled from memory with amazing accuracy the details of the contest Mark and Deaven won.  Tyson Frei taught me how to use code to place the image, something I have wanted to learn all year.  Mr. Ziegenfuss sent me the code a long time ago, but I finally got to try it out, with Tyson’s help.  I would be very remiss not to thank the teachers who cooperated by letting Dominic miss some of their classes when technology was not cooperating.  To Miss Honochick, you were terrific to purchase new microphones.  Mr. Smith, for always providing whatever we need, whenever, on no notice, you really help staff and students.  I probably missed someone who did something special to make all of this happen, so please understand that’s what happens when praise is long overdue.  Thank you one and all, and CONGRATULATIONS, however belatedly.