School: III LO im. M. Sklodowskiej-Curie w Slupsku
    Slupsk, pomorskie, Poland

6 students, ages 16-19 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 24, 2009. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 1996 (Polish edition)

Classes and Teachers: Teachers: Ms Katarzyna Madela, Mrs Natalia Dutkiewicz

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.zso3.slupsk.pl

1. Description of Our Community

Our community comprises of the students of Maria Sklodowska-Curie Secondary School nr 3 as well as their parents and teachers. But there’s more to that as all of us are citizens of the town whose past we describe. So all the other inhabitants should be included in that category. We hope to reach them through our work.

2. Summary of Our Project

We strive to describe the historical landmarks in our town focusing on their most important and interesting characteristics in a way which will help everyone get a clear picture of the town’s tangled but fascinating past. Teach and unite is a great theme because it’s based on the idea that we learn best by teaching others. To be able to teach others we knew we had to really be good at making right choices, planning, researching and presenting. Learning from mistakes was also something important. The plan was to prepare an attractive web design where all the information, clearly presented, would include first hand reports, interviews and other elements which would help us attract readers’ attention. Readers’ comfort and their needs was something we had in mind all along. We really hope we have managed to achieve our aims. We were also teachers to one another in the group, helping with work and corrections and we learnt a lot in this way. We learned to work in a team, to organize free time, to merge school duties with the project, to use various sources information and not only the Internet. We went into town to discover something more on the spot and also we learned new English words thanks to translation tasks.

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:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Our first, biggest problem was lack of organisation. School, learning, our free time. We needed to abandon some things and catch up with stuff in school.

During the interview with Mr Machura , the batteries in our old fashioned dictaphone went flat. We were lucky that Mateusz managed to record everything on his cell phone.

When we were in the Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus to gather information, we were locked up inside. It was funny, because we only needed to push the door knob harder if we wanted to go out.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Know which way you are headed (our aims), be accurate, creative and professional and remember to have some fun all along.

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

Ability to work in a team, share responsibilities and help one another is something we really enjoyed. It was possible thanks to frequent email exchange between us and our teachers as well. We learnt to organize our work better and to present information in a meaningful and clear way. Choosing right materials, rephrasing them and presenting the information in a clear and interesting way was something which we practised a lot. Most of all, we learned a lot of English language-new vocabulary, we had to use correct words in the context, learn about the word order and much more. Also we learned many translation techniques. We learnt how to correct our own work. Skills like that will be necessary for those of us who will get ready for their final exams in next years

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

INTERNET, SCANNER, TAPE RECORDER, BOOKS, ORAL INTERVIEWS, MUSEUM, LIBRARY, CAMERA, DICTIONARIES. Without these things, we wouldn’t be able to finish this project. We think that the most helpful source of information was the Internet. We used our own equipment, the school’s scanner and workstations, the library and borrowed the tape recorder.

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

We managed to interview two historians and needed to be prepared for these interviews which meant preparing questions and consulting them with our teachers. We had our teachers’ support and help but our task was to carry our the interviews ourselves without them. Mr Zdzislaw Machura was our guest in the school library and the interview took more than an hour after which he still wanted to answer more of our questions. We were really glad with the task we’d done. We also wanted to interview his son, Mr Warcislaw Machura, so we went to the secondary school where he works as a deputy head.We also managed to get the help from employees of The Municipal Council who took us on the tour of the Town Hall; the nuns of the St Jack’s Church and many others.

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

We’ve just uploaded our project but we really think it will make a difference. It was an interesting experience and we liked it a lot. It’s a great way to use the Internet to learn or teach others and to spread the knowledge about history or other topics of interest. There’s always something interesting about your town or the region or its people who are really willing to help and that’s really something great. Besides, project work is so involving and it teaches various skills much better sometimes than an ordinary lesson and that’s why that’s the idea worth promoting.

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

Thanks to:

* the Headmaster of our school, Mr Mariusz Baranski * Our English teachers: Ms Katarzyna Madela and Mrs Dutkiewicz * Our librarian, Mrs Janina Nowak * Mr Zdzislaw Machura and Mr Warcislaw Machura who agreed to attend the interviews * Mr Jaroszewicz, the director, and employees of the Museum of Central Pomerania in Slupsk * the Municipal Council employees, especially Mrs Magdalena Pawlowska * Mr Janusz Kopydlowski, the director of the Zachodnio- Kaszubskie Museum in Bytów * Nuns from the Church of St. Jack * The lady from the Information Office who gave us flyers about Slupsk