This project was actually inspired by a former student who, through a course at UVIC, was working on making podcasts based on interviews with Japanese-Canadians interned in camps during World War Two. As the Writing 12 teacher at RSS, I was considering the use of podcasts as a creative means to tell a story.
At the same time, our school librarian was working on a project proposal for SET-BC and while working with the curator of our local museum, he was shown some interview recordings from the 1970's --interviews that documented life in Revelstoke from the late 1800's onwards.
It seemed serendipitous to marry these two ideas and 'The Histories of Revelstoke' was born.
The Writing 10-12 class at Revelstoke Secondary consisted of an interesting demographic. With a multi-grade classroom, students new to our town, and a large proportion of international exchange students, our project sought to connect the history and geography of Revelstoke to the notion of storytelling. Our goals were to give students a better understanding of the historic factors that shaped our small community, to connect the modern day development of a resort town to the historic leisure and sport pursuits of the past, and to give students a better understanding of how early pioneers lived in our community. We stumbled across a treasure trove of stories when the Revelstoke Museum and Archives allowed us access to audio interviews with prominent pioneers who described life at the turn of the century. Using these audio files and transcripts, students went “mining for gold” looking for the gem of a good story to tell. The project was a unique approach that combined many different types of communication (audio, visual, written) into a pop-up museum style of product, a website, a sculpture, and even a board game.
Throughout the course, students developed skills and used technology in separate assignments that were then layered into the overall history project.
For example, students were required to listen to three different types of podcasts in order to understand the structure and format of a podcast. We also explored how sound is engineered differently than written text. Then, students made fun podcasts using ipads and Garage band. Later, they used snippets of historic interviews, converted them from reel-to-reel, and created mini-podcasts for their history project.
Students practice various forms of visual communication, including making logos, designing images, Prezi presentations, and traditional posters.
Students gleaned information from audio transcripts of pioneers and became familiar with reel-to-reel technology plus various software programs like Audacity. Even learning how to use a photocopier to reproduce transcripts became a valuable skill set for many students.
Luckily, our class also had a wide range of technological skills so we relied on each other for experimentation, problem solving, and most of the official training.
Many students showed a keen awareness of history, geography, community, and expressed a better connection to the past and the place. More importantly, their awareness of the elements of a good story spawned continued interest and opened up new avenues for research. During the project, a grade 11 student used the school library's yearbook collection and other primary documents to learn more about her character.
Most students also expressed more confidence with using technology to produce work in new formats. We also noted a shift in attitude towards our past. Rather than view history as something dusty and old, they enjoyed the chance to travel back in time as a sleuths or adventurer.
With a foot in the past and another here in the present, they were sure to find some surprising attitudes, some colourful characters, and some stories worthy of the telling.