School: St. Joseph's Academy
    Las Pinas, NCR, Philippines

14 students, ages 14-16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 28, 2006. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005

Classes and Teachers: Earl M. Albina, Melbert T. Magracia

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://josephians.edu.ph/

1. Description of Our Community

Las Piñas is our community, where any visitor or tourist would be immersed in the experience of local history even if they only pass by. The aura of the Spanish times is present all throughout the Las Piñas 'Bayan' with its historic architecture. The people in the 'bayan' although mostly laid-back and relaxed are hard-working and industrious, with their industry dating back when they all united in restoring the Bamboo Organ which was almost destroyed many years ago. When there are feasts like the Bamboo Organ Festival , they seem to forget all the worries of daily life and enjoy the day while it lasts. The Las Piñas community is also a caring and warm community, suitable for any family that want to live in here.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our Project is about the our community, Las Piñas City, which promotes Environmental Awareness in its vicinity . It was made to give profound information about its projects and initiatives our leaders have made to revive the nature of our community, their efforts to promote cleanliness all around . With this website, the reader/visitor will be able to appreciate the the evolution of once a small backwater town into one of the most progressive and environmentally-aware model cities in our country.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The biggest problem we had to overcome was our schedule of building the website, because it had conflict with other school activities. We also had a problem when we translated the pages to make a Filipino Version, because the text content was so many, and it took so most of the last days of completing the site.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Las Piñas - Discover the beauty of its Nature and Environment.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

This activity helped us become aware and appreciate even more the value and beauty of the things around us. It also enhanced our God-given talents. We applied all of what we have learned in our Computer classes when we made this project, we learned new skills in journalism, web development, and in relating with other people. It also gave us confidence in what we do and the positive attitude that we would succeed whatever the outcome would be. This project also helped other students and community members understand the importance of our environment and how it has affected them deeply. Our fellow community members also learned how to efficiently use the internet for information.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

We gathered information mostly from magazines, journals, news articles, and brochures provided to us by the kind people at our City Hall. We also got information from the House of Senator Manny Villar. Reference materials from the web were also handy, which we got with permission and consent from the rightful owners. Most pictures used in the website were given to us by the ushers at the Villar residence. We scanned them with the scanners at our school for free. Those pictures were later enhanced with Adobe Photoshop CS. We used Adobe Imageready to slice the graphics in the site and used Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 to build the website.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

We contacted different people for information to be used in our website, people who had profound knowledge about the subject. We also interviewed Mayor Imelda Aguilar ourselves. We also interviewed the Executive Assistant of Environmental Sanitation Council, Mr. Arman C. Utanes. We asked around the City Hall about what they knew about the subject matter. We also got reactions about our CyberFair project, most of whom were community members pleased with what we were doing for ourselves and our community. We acted as ambassadors sending deeper knowledge of the Environmental Projects of our community to all Filipinos, even throughout the World, when we finally uploaded and published the website.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

At present we are all sure it hasn't affected many people yet, but all of us are hoping it soon will. We are hoping it would make people aware of the Environmental Projects in our community, and give them encouragement to help make Las Piñas a better place to live in.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We got voluntary help from our relatives for some specific information. This website also wouldn't be possible without the help of the following people: -Mr. Melbert Magracia for the support and providing food while we were making the project. -Mr. Earl Albina for supporting us all throughout. -Mayor Imelda Aguilar for accomodating us in our visit at her office. -Mrs. Eleanor Quintos (our Principal) for allowing us to participate again in this year's CyberFair. -Our classmates and friends who helped us gather all the information. -And most especially God for guiding us with His Grace and making all of this possible.