JHS English Students Interview Staff Through Innovative Project

Senior, Savanna Jolly, showed School Psychologist, Susan Mead, her multimedia interview, which reflected Mead’s idea of a perfect day as well as a remembrance of her first love.

JAMESTOWN – Students in Heather Schultz’s English class created Interview Montages as a culminating project after reading Tuesdays with Morrie, a story about a student and professor who spend time together.

Each student interviewed an adult at Jamestown High School and then used technology to create a Google slide about that adult.

Senior, Savanna Jolly, showed School Psychologist, Susan Mead, her multi-media interview, which reflected Mead’s idea of a perfect day as well as a remembrance of her first love.





“I really enjoyed visiting with Savanna and answering the interview questions,” said Mead. “Savanna took diligent notes during the interview and put the information into a verbal narrative with accompanying photos.  I felt emotionally touched when Savannah shared her final presentation with me, especially the photos she carefully selected to represent the information she collected during the interview.  I hope Savannah enjoyed this experience as much as I did.”

In Tuesdays with Morrie, the main character, Mitch, interviews his teacher, Morrie, who is dying of ALS, on a variety of different topics: dying, marriage, love, regrets, forgiveness, etc.

After finishing the book, Mrs. Schultz decided to have her students interview JHS teachers and staff on some of the same topics. She sent an email to all staff asking if they would be willing to be interviewed. She matched kids and their personalities with the teachers and the class generated approximately 20 questions for their interviews.





















After the conversations, each student chose pictures that represented the teacher they interviewed and created an audio using a Quick Time recording describing everything they learned about the person.

Schultz wanted to include technology because it’s something students really enjoy and something they need to know how to use.

“I really wanted students to learn how to communicate with people they don’t know, making eye contact, shaking hands, learning how to listen and respond politely, and asking questions when appropriate,” said Schultz. “It’s so important for kids going into the workforce to have good communication and listening skills, which is also part of the ELA standards. They needed to use both of those skills to be able to conduct a meaningful interview. It also required many of them to use skills outside of their comfort zone in order to grow as learners and individuals. The teachers and staff who were interviewed really appreciated having the conversations with the kids and sharing the final project.”

After completing the project, Kenny Miller, a student, stated, “Wow! Mr. Kresge is a really inspirational person!”









 

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