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Fieldwork enriches
faculty
Rural South Africa and the Rocky
Mountains provide new perspectives
for two science teachers
One of the bonuses of being a student or working as a teacher is the traditional three-month summer break.
About
Each week, Hawaii's teenage reporters and photographers tell us about their high school. This week's school is Sacred Hearts Academy. |
Rohrback, a chemistry teacher, traveled to rural South Africa as part of a team of six Hawaii teachers, headed by Yunus Peer of Punahou School and dedicated to improving math and science education for the neglected black majority. For five weeks, Rohrback and her colleagues stayed in three provinces where the team conducted training for a total of 270 students and 1,110 teachers.
Running the workshops, however, was no ordinary task. Although the major South African cities appeared to function much like regular American cities, the rural areas were quite different. "These villages operate primitively in round, thatched-roof huts with nearby pens for livestock," Rohrback said.
"Many schools in these areas lack electricity and running water," she said. "Teachers can have five or six classes of 50 to 80 students in each. Many students also lack school supplies. As a result, we carried pencils, rulers and paper with us to hand out to the local children."
In addition to the lack of resources, Rohrback and the rest of the team encountered other challenges.
"South Africa is currently in the process of rebuilding after centuries of racial oppression," Rohrback shared with her Academy students. "Before 1994, black children were not legally allowed to study math and science.
"When we arrived in South Africa, I discovered that teachers were very interested in learning how to incorporate laboratory experiments into the curriculum. However, at present, no lab activities are used in rural schools, due to the lack of funds and equipment," Rohrback said. "The challenge then became to devise practical, inexpensive and equipment-free labs."
Although the stay was a short five weeks, the experience taught Rohrback lessons that will last a lifetime which she already is passing on to her Academy students.
"After seeing the teaching conditions in South Africa, I am certainly more grateful for the facilities, opportunities and support I have as a teacher at Sacred Hearts Academy," Rohrback said. "The South African teachers and students, despite the challenges they face daily, inspired me to be the best teacher I can be."
Although he had a much different professional development experience, Steve Huffman also is bringing back his newfound knowledge to the classroom to enrich the lives of his students.
After attending a four-day NASA conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Huffman, an astronomy and eighth-grade science teacher, flew to Bozeman, Mont., to take graduate classes in the geology of the Rocky Mountains, dinosaur paleontology of the Hell Creek formation and ecology of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Huffman hiked in various ranges near Yellowstone National Park to study the formation of mountains.
"Each day we hiked to a different area, most often covering at least 10 miles and usually reaching an elevation of over 10,000 feet. In fact, I often felt like a mountain goat!" Huffman said.
In studying dinosaur paleontology, Huffman hiked even more around the Hell Creek formation, where he unearthed ancient artifacts.
"We discovered small fragments of various dinosaurs that lived over 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period," Huffman said. "In 110-degree heat, we also searched for the boundary layer in the area's sedimentary rock that separates the Cretaceous Period from the Tertiary Period that marks the end of the giant reptiles and the beginning of the age of mammals."
Huffman's final experience was investigating the ecology of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
"We investigated the effect of the park's surrounding housing developments on bird populations and examined the ripple effect caused by the reintroduction of wolves into the ecosystem," he said.
So what is Huffman bringing back to share with his students?
"Since Earth's geologic history is such a big part of our eighth-grade earth science class, much of that will be shared with my students, including real samples and pictures I personally collected," Huffman said. "I interacted with professional scientists and will bring these real-life experiences to the girls."
All told, Rohrback and Huffman flew more than 10,000 miles and traveled more than 10,000 miles by land.
Both agree, "Our experiences were exciting, exhausting and humbling. We're convinced that we returned to the Academy classrooms in August as better teachers."
Trips allow students
to broaden horizons
Summer destinations include
Japan and Western Europe
This summer, Sacred Hearts Academy students worked at various jobs, went to summer school, performed community service, enjoyed the beaches, shopped and surfed. They also visited new places and encountered new cultures with several opportunities organized by the school.
In June, nine students left for Japan with their sensei, Masa and Yoko Yamaguchi. Later in July, several students went to Europe with band director Alec Briguglio as part of the 2004 Hawaii Ambassadors of Music European Tour.
The trip to Japan began in Tokyo, where students visited a Japanese language school, spent a day at Tokyo Disneyland and took a tour of the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower and Senso-Ji Temple.
In Hiroshima, students saw the Atomic Bomb Dome and toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. In Kyoto, students visited other shrines including Kinkakuji and Kiyomizudera Temple.
"Traveling with our Japanese sensei, who grew up in Japan, proved very beneficial and gave us a deeper understanding of the Japanese culture and traditions," senior Maile Cabugao said. "Most important, we used rather effectively the Japanese language we have studied for several years in the classroom."
In Europe, Academy students joined 170 musicians and dancers directed by Kamehameha Schools band director John Riggle. From July 11 to 28, they presented concerts in England, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. They also toured Liechtenstein and Italy.
The first concert was held in London in the Victoria Embankment Gardens.
"I felt a cultural gap when we arrived in London and stood out in our shorts, tank tops and slippers," senior Ayu Hayashi said.
The next day, the group ferried to France, where they visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum and took a boat ride on the Seine River.
In Switzerland the group's visit included the Castle of Chillon, lakeside walks in Montreux and an underground ride for an amazing view of the Matterhorn.
At the concert in Champery, more than 1,000 listeners gave the group a standing ovation and requested three encores.
"Playing in Champery felt really good," senior Kate Takahashi said. "The response of the audience made me feel energized, and it felt great knowing they enjoyed the music we played."
The visit to Germany was the final stop, but before getting to their hotel in Rothenberg, the students visited Dachau, where a concentration camp was located.
"I've learned about the Holocaust and seen images in textbooks, but it's a whole new story to be in a place where innocent people were tortured and killed," said senior Cherise Bentosino. "It seemed like the souls of those who died there were warning us that something like the Holocaust must never happen again, and yet they were thanking us for remembering."
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