School: Georgetown Central School
    Georgetown, Maine, United States

11 students, ages from 9 to 10 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 15, 2001. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 1998, 1999

Classes and Teachers: Beth Saufler & Karen Hankla

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.georgetown.u47.k12.me.us

1. Description of Our Community

The Greater Bath Area includes several towns on the coast of Southern Maine. The boat builders we interviewed live in the Greater Bath Area. These towns include - Georgetown, Arrowsic, Phippsburg, and Bath, Maine. These communities are located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and/or the Kennebec River. Pine trees, rocky shores, sea birds, lighthouses, and moose are typical sights in our area. There are many, many boat builders living and working in this area due to our close proximity to the ocean and the river. Thousands of tourists visit our community each year to enjoy boating, the sandy beaches, rocky coasts, hiking and biking trails, and natural beauty of our community.

2. Summary of Our Project

We worked with local boat builders to SHARE and UNITE our community with the world. We did this in several ways:

We created forms to use in setting up and conducting interviews with local boat builders. We invited them into our classroom to speak to us about their unique specialty. Pictures were scanned onto our CyberFair pages.

After all of the on site visits and interviews were completed, we wrote thank you notes and letters to the people we interviewed. In the letters we asked them if they felt that this project helped to share and unite the school with the community. You may read their responses on our web pages.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:none

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

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

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Georgetown Central School has access to the Internet via the University of Maine in Orono. We host our own website and mail server. Our network consists of 40 Macintosh computers connected to a central file server and to the Internet via a T-1 line. Students in Grades 2-6 use the Internet in their classrooms and in the computer lab to research and find information.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We had no problems. The entire process and project has been very educational and rewarding.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We feel so fortunate to be a part of such a fine community. We have met new and exciting friends because of this project. Together we have been able to "Share and Unite" the local boat builders of our community to our school and to the world!

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

Our involvement in CyberFair '01 fit quite well into our required school curriculum guidelines and state standards for learning (Maine Learning Results). This project covered learning requirements for computer technology, research skills, the writing process, social studies, the arts, language arts, spelling and reading. This project not only met a school technology goal of using our presence on the Internet as a doorway to our community and world, but through it we also learned new technology skills. These included creating web pages, adding animation and graphics, and creating links. We also discovered which graphic elements, such as color and layout, make web pages attractive and easy to read. Students worked individually, as partners, and as a group on this project. Since all fourth grade students in the state of Maine are required to study the history, geography and the government of our state, this project met this curriculum goal extremely well. We now have a better understanding of how certain specialties develop depending on environment, available resources, and the needs of the local community and beyond. Specifically, we have a deeper understanding of how these ideas apply to boat building in our community.

There's a revolution taking place in education today. CyberFair has pointed the way to move forward by presenting a framework to show educators how to integrate modern technology with traditional education goals. We want to share this discovery with other educators so they too will see how efficiently goals can be met through this type of project.

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

Georgetown Central School, though small, has a technology-rich environment, which has been developing over the past six years. Our class tapped into this resource by using a variety of information tools and technologies for this project. Classroom discussions were recorded using a VCR and video tape or with an audio tape recorder. We also gathered information in telephone interviews. Standard and digital cameras and a scanner were used to capture images for our web pages. Power Macintosh and Macintosh G3 computers with CD-ROM & DVD capability were used as hardware support. Software included Claris HomePage to create webpages. KidPix and GifBuilder were used to create animations. A computer projection system was invaluable in helping us learn to use these tools efficiently. The scheduling of extra time for our class to use the computer lab was helpful in allowing us to complete this project.

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

We have become excellent "ambassadors " from Georgetown Central School because of this project. After creating a list of boat builders in our area, we telephoned them, set up conference times, and welcomed them to our classroom. Using our interview forms, we gathered important information about boat building. The local boat builders were enthusiastic and excited to see the "young people" of the community taking an interest in their craft. They were very impressed with the fact that we would be creating web pages about their specialties to share with the world. As you will read from their reactions, the community people were very honored, pleased, and excited to be a part of this web project. Again, please see the quotes from the letters we received about the share and unite portion of this project.

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

Our involvement in CyberFair has made a huge impact in our community. We would like to share some quotes from the letters we received from the local boat builders we have interviewed: "Thank you for the opportunity to share Robinhood Marine Center with the students...I feel that my involvement with the CyberFair has created a link...with the school... The number of questions that were asked showed me a strong interest in what the students are doing." - Larry Knapp "...I want to thank you for inviting me to your class to discuss...shipbuilding at Bath Iron Works.... it seemed to me that you all were very enthusiastic about your project and had covered a lot of ground in developing your web page on boat/ship building in Maine." - Chip Simpson, Bath Iron Works

As you can see, the community is very excited about our project! We have established new working relationships with people in the community through the research and information we have gathered. For example, one of the boat builders we interviewed has offered to teach us how to build a skiff! We feel fortunate to have made many new friends in our community, and we feel confident that people around the world will want to visit our fine community in Southern Maine. Our school website is a major source of information about Georgetown. The two CyberFair sites which we have created in the past, and which are available to the public on the web, have been used by the Greater Bath Cultural Resources Project as a source of information about local artists and craft persons. We expect this year's project to be a resource for the community too.

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

This project would not be possible without the help of community members. Local boat builders were very enthusiastic and open to our invitations! They welcomed us into their workshops and establishments, they came into our classroom, and they helped us with the information that is included on these web pages. Many of them were thrilled that fourth graders took an interest in their work, and their role in the community. They gave us the names of other people to contact so we could learn more about the history of boat building in our area. Every person who came to our classroom spoke to us with great pride and enthusiasm. It has been a wonderful time for our community and our classroom to "Share and Unite!"

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We are amazed about the new knowledge we now have about boat building in our area. Each boat builder we talked with taught us new facts.We learned many lessons. We learned that to be a boat builder you must have a burning passion for this work, that it comes from the heart, that it takes vision, and practice! This entire experience has been one discovery, lesson, and surprise after another! And we aren't stopping here!