Students attend 'Green School Conference'

  • By Kate Miller // Charleston Collegiate
  • Posted: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 11:32 a.m.
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Charleston Collegiate Lower School students Morgan Rodriguez (left) and Holly Hurley use scientific experiments to discover the nature of a mystery material in the 'Mad Science' after-school program.
/Jaquelin PelzerCharleston Collegiate Lower School students Morgan Rodriguez (left) and Holly Hurley use scientific experiments to discover the nature of a mystery material in the 'Mad Science' after-school program.

Charleston Collegiate School Lower School teachers Jodie Haynie and Jess Evans and Upper School Science teacher Molly Olson took a group of students to attend the Project Learning Tree "Green School Conference" in Kershaw on Feb. 4-5.

The students who attended were Stuart Bowers, Mary Grace Bowers, Tyler Swain and Alex Westmoreland.

At the conference, the teachers and students completed various investigations meant to teach techniques for improving the environmental well-being of a campus (i.e. recycling and energy use).

Most of the science lesson plans used in the new Charleston Collegiate Outdoor Education Center (the "outdoor classroom") come from Project Learning Tree.

The conference gave CCS the opportunity to receive up to $6,000 in funds to be used for future school-related community service projects.

The Lower School teachers hope to add more outdoor lesson plans, so the teachers and students attending the conference also learned more about the Project Learning Tree program called "Greenworks!"

The goal of "Greenworks!" is to teach students the importance of completing environmentally based service projects. The faculty at CCS says it realizes that the school's Johns Island campus has immense natural wonders, and Project Learning Tree is helping educators use those natural wonders to pass on an appreciation of nature to the next generation.

"This is a great opportunity for our school and the students, teachers, families and community who'll be involved with this project," Haynie said.

Teacher starting Mad Science club

Middle School science teacher Bobby Hemingway has begun his own Lower School after-school club called Mad Science.

The club is an opportunity for third- through fifth-grade students to perform fun activities that teach basic principles of science.

Hemingway said the purpose of Mad Science is to get the youngest science students interested in scientific study and a future in science.

In one of the program's activities, students used the basic principles of chemistry to create "slime." Other activities are used to teach basic principles of physics and biology.

This is the first scientific after-school program to be offered at CCS students. Mad Science is intended to spark interest when Lower School students are first starting to discover the sciences.

Hemingway explained the activities he has lined up for the club: "They will have a chance to see volcanoes erupt and discover their inner workings, mix chemicals to explore chemical reactions, build and launch hot air balloons, make rockets from scratch and watch them soar and solve many other problems using the process of scientific inquiry."

Students take on Bollywood spoof

The Middle School drama class, under the direction of Jenny Pringle, and Middle School music class, under Rebecca Knox, have gone "Bollywood."

After research into the "Bollywood" methods of singing, dancing and acting popular in Indian films, the classes have collaborated to write and perform their own "Bollywood Mockumentary" based on the movie "The Princess Bride," renamed "The Princess Brides."

Special twists in the story have been created to bring in an Indian influence. For example, Princess Buttercup is being forced into an arranged marriage, a key topic in many Bollywood films. Students are using improvisation to write the script.

Pringle and Knox explained that the idea for the production came through a "chalk talk" that showed students had an interest in other world cultures. The classes began by watching popular Bollywood films, including "Bride and Prejudice," and researching them online. The team has used electronic education tools to create the production. Each student was taught how to create a blog through WordPress.com.

Now, the students can conduct online discussions about their production. Technology is even included in the production itself: One of the characters is constantly text messaging.

The project also focuses on cultural influence and cultural knowledge. Students are taught methods of comparing the "Bollywood Musical" to the average Western musical. Middle School film teacher Will O'Donnell also has agreed to participate by filming and editing the production.

Got feedback? Reach our young journalists through their editor at jkleine@postandcourier.com or comment at www.postandcourier.com/yourlowcountry.