Who helps to make our school better? This was the question we asked students at the start of our Community Workers project. Through this project, students learned to recognize and describe different community workers in the Kang Chiao school community while also developing their design skills by planning and creating a thank-you card to express their appreciation to a chosen community worker at the school.

This year, we decided to focus on the people that the students see or interact with on a daily basis at school.  By bringing the focus ‘closer to home’, the project process and outcome became more real and relevant to the students. The students had the opportunity to think about the different areas at the school and who works in those areas. The students then shared how different community workers affect their lives. They did not simply identify the roles of different people. The students also had to share their personal experiences with each community worker. 

For their research, the students gained a more in-depth first-person perspective by watching recorded interviews of the community workers. The students enjoyed seeing their ‘hero helpers’ in these recordings. The community workers also enjoyed sharing with the students via video. It was heartening for many of them to know that the students saw them and appreciated them. A lot of learning and thinking took place, as the students had to listen carefully to what the interviewee was saying. Once the students had a good understanding of the work of their chosen community worker, they thought about how they might describe this person, and what sort of images they could draw to symbolize the person’s work. 

The students made “Thank You” cards with a representative image on the front, and words specific to the community worker inside. The wonderful thing about the final product was that it was purposeful. The students had the chance to go around and give their cards to the community workers during class. This was a fun and rewarding way to end the project process. The students were able to go into different spaces and meet the staff at the school in a very different way from usual. And the best part, by saying thank you, the students helped to make the KCIS community even better!