Big Isle student has picture-perfect idea
PAHOA, Hawaii » Big Island seventh-grader Bobby Rivera proposed that kids be given cameras to document how they learned things at home.
The proposal got under way, and kids took photos of everyday activities. The students then discussed their pictures with their parents, boosting the parents' interest in school activities, said Suzanne Nozaki, Bobby's English teacher at Pahoa High and Intermediate School.
Bobby's proposal led to his selection as one of 10 nationwide to receive a free trip to Washington, D.C., next month as part of Box Tops for Education, a program of breakfast cereal maker General Mills, a program announcement said.
Bobby will make the April 3-6 trip with his mother, Diane, a single parent, along with older brother Johnny. The family lives in Hawaiian Beaches, and Diane Rivera works as a supervisor at a plant nursery.
The top 10 winners will meet one or more of their states' congressional members -- with Bobby meeting Rep. Ed Case -- and will attend the program's first Kid's Caucus on Capitol Hill on April 5.
Fifth- through eighth-grade students across the nation had submitted short essays answering the question, "If you and your parent or guardian were made principals for a day, how would you increase parents' involvement at your school?"
Finalists in all 50 states won $1,000 for their schools to implement their proposals.
The Pahoa school already received the money and bought six digital cameras for students to use at home, Nozaki said.
The parent and child have to discuss how the photo is going to be set up, Nozaki said. "This gets the parent and child talking," she said.
The home learning does not have to be academic. Pictures from home included a boy learning how to box from his father, another learning how to ready a lawn mower for mowing, and a mother and child with a Bible.
The photos will be assembled in a hard-bound "memory book," Nozaki said.