PROCESS
Kamehameha
Middle School Project Citizen 2006
This student produced movie gives
an overview of the eighth grade Project Citizen project at Kamehameha
Middle School.
Project
Citizen Description
Project Citizen is a multi-disciplined,
national curricular program for middle school students, funded by
the Center for Civic Education. The intent of Project Citizen is to
address the civic mission of schools by motivating and empowering
young people to learn and practice the responsibilities of citizenship
in a constitutional democracy. Project Citizen brings relevancy into
the classroom by helping students identify an issue of public concern,
understand the current public policy regarding the problem, and generate
alternative solutions that can be implemented to address the issue.
Kamehameha
Middle School, Project Citizen 2006
The students studied the pollution of Kalihi Stream, which shares
the same ahupua‘a with their Kapalama campus. They conducted
research by interviewing interest groups and government officials,
listening to guest speakers, reviewing existing public policy and
performing water quality testing. They decided that one way to address
this problem would be to work with the City’s Adopt-A-Stream
and Storm Drain Stenciling programs. To encourage others on their
campus to join them, they developed an action plan; including the
production of a public service announcement, distributing bumper stickers
and T-shirts and presenting their Project Citizen portfolio to the
Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus Management Team. They sense that
they have started a process of change.
“After
finishing Project Citizen, I felt that my classmates and I have accomplished
so much and made a big contribution to our community,” said
Niutao Seau, Jr., Kamehameha Middle School student body president.
“One main lesson that I learned was that anyone can make a difference
and that it is our responsibility to keep our community a safe and
healthy environment.”
Amy Callahan, an eighth grade English teacher at Kamehameha Middle
School and one of the project’s principal advisors, said, “Through
Project Citizen, an interdisciplinary and service learning project,
our students learned how to become involved citizens and community
leaders. As educators, our hope was for students to understand they
have a voice and a responsibility to find solutions to community problems.
We are proud of our students’ efforts; and we have already witnessed
a change in their disposition regarding government and their responsibility
to be engaged and active citizens in the public policy-making process.”
Kamehameha Middle School Principal Sandy Young said, “I would
like to congratulate our students and staff for the research they
did to identify the needs related to the Kahili Stream and to owning
up to their responsibilities as citizens of Hawaii. It is imperative
that our youth know about and are willing to be ready to correct problems
when they see it.”
PRODUCT
Photos
of the
2006 Hawaii Project Citizen National Portfolio, "Mohala
i ka wai ka maka o ka pua"
These photos of the portfolio include each Project Citizen
panel/board and the binder.
Story
from the 2006 Hawaii Project Citizen National Portfolio, "Mohala
i ka wai ka maka o ka pua"
To
incorporate English with Project Citizen, students were asked to
write their portfolio in the form of a story. This
class selected Kamani
the "rubbah slippah" of Kalihi Stream to be the main character
for their story.
Photos of an exemplary 2006 KMS Project Citizen Portfolio, "A ‘Ohe
Wai, A ‘Ohe Ha"
These
photos of the portfolio include each Project Citizen panel/board and
the binder.
Story
from an exemplary 2006 KMS Project Citizen Portfolio, "A ‘Ohe
Wai, A ‘Ohe Ha"
To incorporate English with Project Citizen,
students were asked to write their portfolio in the form of a story.
This class selected Dexter the mosquito fish of Kalihi Stream to be
the main character for their story.
City
and County of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services Clean
Water Branch
To incorporate
technology and science, students participated in webquests as they
researched their Project Citizen problem. This website helped inform
students about what government is already doing to help solve their
issue of concern. They also learned about the City and County of Honolulu
Adopt-A-Stream and the Storm Drain Stenciling programs from this website
which later became the focus of their own Project Citizen class policy
and action plan.
Clean
The Kalihi Stream
To incorportate technology and science, students were
asked to create an infomercial about their Project Citizen environmental
problem.
Photos
of the 2006 KMS Project Citizen Hearing and Speakers
In
order to build community, speakers
were asked to share their mana‘o (wisdom) with our
students. Students also shared their class portfolio
with the rest of the team of students during the 2006
KMS Project Citizen hearing/presentations.
Photos
of the 2006 KMS Honolulu Hale & Hawaii State Capitol
Recognition Field Trip and Press
Release
On May 2, 2006 the Kamehameha Middle School
Kukui Team was recognized by Mayor Mufi Hanneman and
Representative Lyla Berg for their work with Project
Citizen.
RESOURCES
Websites
Center
for Civic Education - We the People: Project Citizen
Center
for Civic Education - We the People: Hawaii State Program Coordinator
Contact
Center
for Civic Education - We the People: Project Citizen
Free Instructional Materials
Center
for Civic Education - We the People: Project Citizen
Teacher’s Guide
Center
for Civic Education - We the People: Project Citizen
Student Book
Center
for Civic Education - Internet Resources
2006
KMS Project Citizen Unit
Calendar
