Student Engagement Through a Different Lens | Candy Suiso | TEDxFargo
Summary
TLDRThe script tells the inspiring story of a community in Waianae, Hawaii, facing challenges such as poverty, high unemployment, and low academic scores. Despite these odds, a dedicated teacher transforms a struggling high school by introducing a video production program, which not only boosts engagement and graduation rates but also empowers students with real-life skills. The program's success, marked by increased enrollment, awards, and a comprehensive educational pipeline, demonstrates the power of perseverance, teamwork, and community support in creating opportunities for a brighter future.
Takeaways
- 🏖️ Waianae community in Hawaii has a beautiful coastline but faces significant social and economic challenges.
- 📚 Waianae High School, despite its challenges, is home to the Searider Productions program.
- 🎥 A teacher initiated a video production program to engage students and make learning relevant.
- 🚀 The program started with limited resources but grew to become highly successful.
- 🏆 The media program has won numerous awards and increased the high school graduation rate.
- 🔄 The program was reevaluated and revamped to ensure students were prepared for life beyond high school.
- 🤝 Community partnerships and a comprehensive pipeline were developed to support student success.
- 📈 The program now includes journalism, video, photography, graphic arts, and animation.
- 👩🏫 The success of the program is attributed to teamwork, passion, and the willingness to learn from failures.
- 🙏 Gratitude is emphasized for the support and belief in the program's potential.
- 🌟 The goal is to create a new cycle of expectation for students to achieve greatness.
Q & A
What is the Waianae community known for?
-The Waianae community is known for its 16-mile stretch of beautiful coastline on Oahu, Hawaii, and its population that is more than half Native Hawaiian ancestry.
What challenges does the Waianae community face?
-The community faces challenges such as high unemployment, a large homeless population, and low academic scores, with nine schools in the district all ranked at the bottom of social and economic measures.
How did the speaker's experience at Waianae High School influence their decision to return?
-The speaker was pushed away by the negative aspects of the community when they graduated, but the saying 'you can take the girl out of Waianae but you can't take Waianae out of the girl' compelled them to return and teach.
What was the initial reaction to the video production program idea?
-The initial reaction was skepticism, with people doubting the idea due to the students being teenagers from Waianae High School, their perceived lack of intelligence, and the expectation that they would not take the program seriously.
How did the video production program start?
-The program started in 1993 with 85 students, two classrooms, two teachers, one edit bay, and six cameras, despite the lack of funding and air-conditioning.
What was the turning point that led to the program's success?
-The turning point was the realization that the program's initial success was empty, as students were graduating without much direction. This led to the decision to rebuild the program with a more comprehensive pipeline of learning.
What does the comprehensive pipeline of learning involve?
-It involves preparing students with both skill-based and life skills learning, engaging them in real-life projects, and creating a seamless educational path from elementary to higher education and the workforce.
How has the program grown since its inception?
-The program has grown to include 250 students, six teachers, and six classrooms, offering multimedia disciplines such as journalism, video, photography, graphic arts, and animation.
What is the speaker's perspective on the importance of teamwork and humility?
-The speaker emphasizes that success is not achieved alone and that teamwork and cooperation are crucial. They also stress the importance of being humble and thankful, especially for those who believed in the program's potential.
What is the speaker's vision for the future of the program and the students?
-The speaker envisions the program continuing to graduate students who will become professionals in various industries, creating a new cycle of expectation and achievement in the community.
Outlines
🌴 Waianae Community and Its Challenges
The first paragraph introduces the Waianae community on Oahu, Hawaii, with its beautiful coastline and Native Hawaiian heritage. Despite the picturesque scenery, the community faces significant challenges, including high unemployment, a large homeless population, and low academic scores. The Waianae High School, home to the Sea Riders, is struggling with student engagement and poor social and economic rankings. The speaker, a former student, felt compelled to return to teach and improve the situation.
📚 Transforming Education at Waianae High School
The second paragraph describes the speaker's innovative approach to education at Waianae High School. Initially, the school faced skepticism about engaging students through a video production program. Despite limited resources, the program launched in 1993 and grew to become a comprehensive media program. The focus shifted from just skill-based learning to life skills, involving the entire community in a seamless pipeline from elementary to higher education and the workforce. The program's success is measured not only by awards and recognition but also by the teamwork, humility, and gratitude instilled in the students, who are expected to make a significant impact in their community.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Waianae community
💡Native Hawaiian ancestry
💡Poverty cycle
💡Video production program
💡Searider Productions
💡Academic scores
💡Community partners
💡Life skills
💡Pipeline
💡Teamwork and cooperation
💡Mahalo
Highlights
Waianae community on Oahu, Hawaii, is home to nearly 45,000 residents, with over half being of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
Waianae is described as the best kept secret on Oahu with beautiful beaches and a vibrant community.
The community faces challenges such as high unemployment, low academic scores, and a large homeless population.
Waianae High School's Searider Productions program was initiated to provide a unique learning environment.
The teacher, a Waianae High School graduate, returned to teach despite the lack of resources and negative expectations.
In 1988, the school had the lowest graduation rate in the state, leading to the creation of a video production program.
The video production program was initially met with skepticism due to the students' background and perceived lack of potential.
The program started with limited resources but a strong belief in the students' potential for success.
After 10 years, the program saw increased funding, equipment, and recognition, along with a rise in graduation rates.
The program's success led to a reevaluation and a decision to revamp the curriculum for a more comprehensive approach.
A pipeline was created to prepare students with both skill-based and life skills learning, from elementary to higher education and the workforce.
The community, including local schools and partners, collaborated to support the students' journey.
The program now serves 250 students with a diverse range of multimedia disciplines.
The program has won hundreds of awards over the past 25 years, showcasing the students' achievements.
The emphasis is on teamwork, humility, and gratitude for the support and opportunities provided to the students.
The story of Waianae High School is ongoing, with a focus on graduating students who will make a positive impact in their community.
The program's success is attributed to the students who carry the lessons and values learned, creating a new cycle of expectation and achievement.
Transcripts
[Music]
look at this place our Waianae community
a 16 mile stretch of beautiful coastline
on the island of Oahu in the state of
Hawaii a home to nearly 45,000 residents
of which more than half are of Native
Hawaiian ancestry thus unlike most of
our people shines all year round I like
to say were the best kept secret on Oahu
home to some of the most beautiful
people and untouched unpopulated beaches
home to Waianae high school home of the
sea riders and our searider productions
program a fitting environment for
learning but below the surface is an
extremely depressed community with few
job opportunities home to the largest
homeless population in the state high
unemployment and consistently low
academic scores there are nine schools
in our district all notorious for being
ranked on the bottom of every social
economic measure the cycle of poverty is
evident when you look beyond the pretty
scenery students who live in poverty
come to school every day without the
proper tools for success as a result
they fall behind all their classmates
physically socially academically and
emotionally a small rural town in the
middle of nowhere with people that are
expected to do nothing many of those
negative things is what pushed me away
when I graduated from Waianae high
school but they say you can take the
girl out of Waianae but you can't take
the Waianae out of the girl
I felt compelled to return to my alma
mater to teach as a teacher and by the
way the only open line was Spanish and I
was not fluent at all in Spanish our
school struggles and keeping students
engaged and in 1988 our graduation rate
was
the lowest in the state so on a whim
I've transformed I gave my students a
video camera and transformed our
classroom into video production program
I saw how the video was a great tool to
make learning fun and to make learning
relevant I thought that's it lights
camera engagement I needed a thought
okay that's it a video production
program let's do this but I also
remember people saying candy it's not
gonna work number one they're teenagers
number two they're Waianae high school
teenagers number three they're too
stupid and number four they're gonna rip
you off in fact some people even laughed
at the idea it was a struggle just to
keep the program off the ground and
finally in 1993 we launched with 85
students two classrooms two teachers one
edit Bay and six cameras we would pack
40 sometimes 50 students into our non
air-conditioner room and that was just
the first year we discovered that you
have to work hard for everything in life
and it won't always be easy sometimes
you're gonna fall you're gonna fall hard
but pick yourself up and start all over
again
there are guidelines on how to create a
successful media program I visited four
of the media programs across the
straight across the state many from
affluent communities you needed funding
which got to equipment which might get
you better looking projects which might
get you some Awards and that was how it
was done but we were determined to be
successful to build a program that was
second to none we didn't have funding
but what we did have was passionate
willing students that embrace the idea
that it was okay to fail and that you
will just have to pick yourself up and
start all over again and for 10 years we
did just that and that's when the Fundy
the equipment and the better looking
projects and awards started to
roll in enrollment increased along with
our high school graduation rate rate so
many would have considered us a very
successful media program but were we
really preparing our students we needed
to do more so in the middle of all the
success we decided to rip it apart and
start all over again from scratch we
realized our success was empty because
students were graduating but really
without much direction so we contacted
our local feeder schools our community
partners and organizations to help
construct the more comprehensive
pipeline of preparing students to go
from skill base learning to life skills
based learning a place where students
could engage in real-life projects that
made learning fun and relevant a
seamless pipeline of creative media
along our Liebherr coast from elementary
to middle to high school to higher
education and finally on to the
workforce our entire community working
together it's been hard work but I think
we've accomplished that goal enrollment
in our program is now 250 students we
have six teachers and six classrooms
that integrate multimedia disciplines of
journalism video photography graphic
arts and animation and I'm really proud
to say three of those gentlemen up there
on that screen are graduates of our
program more than equipment for everyone
and over the last 25 years hundreds of
local national and international awards
and recognitions what we've realized is
no one does anything alone it takes
teamwork and cooperation to make
something work whether you're the writer
the producer the editor whatever your
role is it takes teamwork and most
importantly be humble and be thankful
for what you have
remember our beginning years especially
when we didn't have
much but we made it work and be thankful
especially for everyone who believed we
could do this it's not about the
cutting-edge equipment or new classrooms
the awards recognitions and especially
the difficult environment they come from
it's our students that will carry these
lessons with them
it's our students who will provide the
example of how it's our students who
will find connections through our values
there is no ending to this story but
this is what will happen next we will
continue to graduate more students every
year they will become professionals in
all industries and it's our students who
will create a new cycle in our small
rural town in the middle of nowhere
people producing people producing people
that are expected to do something great
and they will Mahalo and thank you Fargo
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]
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