The dawn of the new millennium has given teachers a learning tool to inspire reflection, creativity and imagination. Students across the islands are linking subjects to the turn of the century as they relate to the past, live in the present and plan for the future. Time capsules, scrapbooks, dramatizations and art projects require research, analysis, problem solving and thought. The Star-Bulletin went into the classrooms to see what students of various levels are doing -- from elementary school, to middle school, to high school and college.Here's a look at one of the projects.
Here’s who counts
with 7th-gradersMoanalua Intermediate students
By Eloise Aguiar
list those in history whose deeds
have most affected their lives
Star-BulletinEdgar Allan Poe. Mozart. Niels Bohr. Hank Aaron.
To some Moanalua Intermediate School seventh-graders, these notables rose above a very crowded field of important people in our world's history.
With teachers providing lists of people in five categories, the youngsters prioritized the famous people who have had the most impact on their lives. The categories: English/fine arts; math/science/ technology; social studies, physical education and entertainment.
"We picked Edgar Allan Poe because he was a horror poet, and we all like horror poems," said student Crystal Siruno.
Members of Jaimelynn Cassidy's group chose Niels Bohr, whose theory led to the invention of the atomic bomb, which they said, remains a threat to mankind. "Nowadays people, countries are bombing each other," Cassidy said.
Eric Chong said his group selected Wolfgang Mozart because of the influence he had on contemporary music, and Hank Aaron for his achievements in baseball.
In researching their subjects, some students discovered some surprising information.
Paula Scovell said she learned that artist Georgia O'Keeffe was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford.
Alisa "Danie" Hout said the first woman in space, Sally Ride, also helped develop a mechanical arm to retrieve things from space.
And Matthew Endo discovered that Sir Walter Scott wrote "Ivanhoe," which he'd read in a condensed form and enjoyed.
Skyler Lillard said he would have preferred choosing from a more current list of people. "I think we should have more '90s people. We were looking at (the teachers') past. I wished we could have looked more at our past."
The biography project was just one of several the entire school has undertaken.
Themed "Millennium Momentum," the projects, field trips and assemblies use the turn of the century to spark interest in learning. Some classes have even chosen names like "Y2K Bugs," "Imiloa (explore)" and "Millennium Mustangs."
Projects include student countdowns to the year's end, and recording the days, hours and minutes left in 1999.
They'll also leave a legacy to the future that reveals who they are or what they believe: Some 42 classes are contributing to a time capsule the size of a shoebox.
Here are some of the people the students picked as being the most influential in the last 2,000 years:
Edgar Allan Poe
