My name is John Zingale, and I am the Washington St. History teacher at Vancouver iTech Preparatory. It is my belief that students need to experience what it is like to be a historian at some point in their life. I am also infatuated with Mt. St. Helens and its impact on the world. In 2013, I finally climbed to the top of the new summit and experience the mountain in a whole new way. I knew that I wanted to give my students that same type of experience in our classroom.
 With the support of my wife Anna, principal Christina Iremonger, colleagues Tom Wolverton and David Kelley, and the Mt. St. Helens Institute, I began planning and developing IMPACT! I began collecting sources and communicated with parents, scientists, and other community members to put together the interview event at our school. As the students and I began studying the mountain, we began to see, and hear about, its impact in people's lives.
Then our students had the opportunity to interview our wonderful guests, and hear these stories first hand. We heard stories that went well beyond just the initial eruption. The mountain impacted people's lives in a plethora of ways. After the interview process the students got to work. They took their information, analyzed it, and created the pieces of writing contained here. In fact, all that you see here including the mini-documentaries and website are all student created works. This was a truly exciting and rewarding experience as I watched the students grow into their roles as historians. From beginning to end they conducted themselves in a professional manner and got to produce something valuable to the world.
I hope this is something that they never forget, because I know I won't. All of this would not have been possible with the support of our parents, community, and especially our interview subjects. From all of us here at iTech, thank you.
Our website team! Top row; Grady D. and Andrew S. Bottom row; Vince P., Megan L., Meriel B., Kayl P., and Ramses G. Hi, I'm Kayl, and this website means a lot to me. And I mean a lot. When Mr. Z first introduced the idea in class, I was so excited. I think I jumped up and down  and squealed, which was very undignified. My friends and I put in a LOT of work, not just in class; but at home, and after-school meetings every Wednesday. Basically, we all worked our tail end off to get this website up and running. Our original plan was to have this website released on Mt. St. Helen's Anniversary, but still, it's awesome that we can share this with the world. I am proud to present this work that was made with cyber-elbow grease.
image source: http://www.nursingwitandwisdom.com/category/announcements_news_updates/
| This website was based off a Washington State History class project that changed from normal to amazing! IMPACT! What is Mount Saint Helens’ impact on Washington state? Geography Religion Achievements Politics Economic Social / Cultural [We chose to address the social/cultural aspect of the project] Social / Cultural: What is the impact of the mountain on our society? You will conduct research on interview subjects, write interview questions, then conduct interviews while collecting audio and video. Create a class website or eBook incorporating the material. Create informative articles / poems / videos from the interviews. You will be citing all sources and Incorporating primary source images into the product. |
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