| History honors students' film projects displayed in public | | Print | |
| Written by Lydia O'Connor | |
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Students will present civil rights-themed video projects at a small public theater. Students in social studies teacher Barbara Blinick’s United States History Honors class have been working on interview-based videos focusing on “civil rights or the failure to protect civil rights,” to be presented inside the Apple Store’s theater on Stockton St. on June 12 from 6 to 8 p.m., according to Blinick This is the third year Blinick has assigned the project, however, it is the first year the videos will be presented at a public venue. In previous years, the students presented in the auditorium. “I wanted to do it in a way that was more formal than the auditorium,” Blinick said. According to Blinick, Apple was interested in screening the videos because most were produced using iMovie, Apple’s video-editing application. “I’m using their technology, so it’s a good use of their resources,” Blinick said. “It shows them off.” However, some videos will not be presented because of time constraints or topic redundancy. “If I have too many videos, a student panel and myself will choose which videos to show…based off (of) quality and content,” Blinick said. Students in groups of two, three, and four have been working on the project all year. Junior Tyler Lehman explained that the term papers they wrote last semester served as research for their videos. Blinick has made video editing part of the class curriculum. “They’re learning how to use iMovie,” Blinick said, thanking English teacher Carolyn Nickels for letting her students use the yearbook staff’s Mac lab. Junior Genna Umansky described the editing process as really exciting. “It is rewarding to see the end result,” she said. Some of the students’ topics of choice focus on communism. “My group is focusing on the Red Scare and how it affected children,” Lehman said. “We interviewed parents of students who were kids during the second Red Scare. We talked to one guy who met (infamous, accused communist) Alger Hiss, which was really interesting to hear about.” Other groups chose topics that related to their own lives. “(My group) chose to talk about how most Chinese were not welcome in the 1900s and how they felt discriminated against,” junior Katrina Lau said. “(My group member junior Ashley Ong) and I are both of Chinese descent so it was interesting to find out more.” Other topics included Title IX, women’s rights and environmental movements. Students appreciated the unique opportunity to delve into a historical event of their choice. “I feel like I’m learning a lot about one specific time in history,” Lehman said. Lau added, “It definitely is a lot of work, but it’s something you’d remember working on.” |
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to listen.
