School: 'Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi' National College
    Radauti, -, Romania

5 students, ages 18-19 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 23, 2009. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2006, 2007, 2008

Classes and Teachers: Ionescu Corina

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.cnhurmuzachi.ro/

1. Description of Our Community

What we understand through the term “community” is related to the theme for CyberFair 2009, 'Teach and Unite!' We don’t just see it as a restricted group of people who have bad habits or who are willing to do more for their health, we think of the community as an idea (because there are exceptions that break the rule in every group) that unites human beings from everywhere, for our project was meant to raise awareness towards a problem that is actual at a worldwide level.

Our local community consists of both those who were anxious about our project and supported us more than in a material way, people from our town and county, but also from those to which our project was originally aimed, students with bad health habits from our school and town.

Eliminating the “local” term of the definition we reach something at a worldwide scale, not only because we have had collaborators from various countries (England, USA, Iraq etc.), but also because we intend to be united, through this project, with people from all over the world, to try to teach them about the meaning or the word “health”, and to help them reach a state of harmony between their bodies and souls.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our “story” started from the optional class we chose to do this year in Biology entitled “Elements of Human Pathology”. We shortly realized that most of the children in our school, including us, have an unhealthy lifestyle. The analysis we made proved that the situation is also problematic at a global scale. We decided to do a survey in our school, and then we informed our colleagues about the results, with the desire to motivate them to have a healthy lifestyle, through a locally promoted informational campaign. This is how our project gained great proportions not only regionally but also nationally, being presented at a symposium and winning second prize at a contest with this subject.

After being so successful, we decided to insist on the delicate issues, to continue the informational campaign in order to change the mentalities of the ones involved and to convince them to adopt a healthier lifestyle. At the same time, we promoted our project worldwide trying to obtain real examples and relevant opinions from people all over the world. We consider that a comparative vision can bring exquisite advantages, involving different communities. It’s all part of the motto “Think globally, act locally”.

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:not sure

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We are aware that every durable thing that reflects in other peoples’ conscience requires sacrifices, especially when referring to health’s dimensions. The main issue which we faced was time pressure. Disposing of a great amount of informational sources, we had to reduce the amount of data and make a coherent and complex synthesis. Because we are not a class specialized in Biology or Diplomacy, we had to sacrifice our spare time on account of health being such an important matter.

Even though our efforts have been great, the results have outrun our expectations, proving that it was truly worth it. In fact, the obstacles have been insignificant in comparison to the satisfaction that we have gained from this experience. Teamwork was essential in fixing errors and overcoming problems. Not only have we solved all the issues, but we have also “killed” them through our enthusiasm, transforming work into true pleasure.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

It is a chance. Our project represents a possibility, an extraordinary means of informing and standing up for a cause such as an adequate lifestyle. It is a chance to consolidate team relationships, to communicate with other groups and to collaborate with people of authority. They were all delighted to help us, taking our enthusiasm and the quality of our work into account.

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

Our project is “active”. Through it, we intend to analyze the state of health at a local level. Moreover, it is the way we want to work together in a diplomatic manner to help the community. The project corresponds to our needs because it fixes negative aspects detected in the lifestyle of the modern man, it focuses on illustrating the impressive benefits that an adequate way of living may bring, it is centered on the need to have a balanced life and to be not only happy with one’s self but also truly content.

This project is an incontestable example of teamwork in which we took full advantage of the “attraction” between us in order to develop our communication, coordination and collaboration skills. This experience has also been truly beneficial because we perfected our computer knowledge, especially in statistics and photography. Because we also wanted to observe other lifestyles, we automatically improved our linguistic and communication abilities. We had the chance to start close relationships with people from England, Ireland, Italy, Iraq, South Africa and Canada, with whom we will continue to collaborate in the future. Through their help, we wish to fight for a healthy lifestyle at a global scale.

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

The quality of any project depends more or less on the tools and technology used. In fact, it would have been impossible for us to create an attractive campaign without them. We used more than ten computers to finalize our project and to present it in a friendly and interactive way. Also, our phones were very useful in communicating with the other team members and our collaborators from abroad.

For our project to have a greater impact on the community, we resorted to the local television channel, which repeatedly broadcasted our material. We also used a tape recorder to be more efficient in taking interviews. A varied range of software programs were used for the project: PowerPoint, Word, Photoshop, DreamWeaver, Fireworks, Excel, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer.

Because the quality and the clarity of the information are essential, we took advantage of libraries, books, newspapers, oral interviews, the Internet and other resources. Some of them are tools and modern technology items that belong to the local community and to the school, but most of them are our own. We also want to mention our classmates’ involvement, who have sponsored our project and donated a tape recorder that was useful in taking the interviews.

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

We have no intention of making this project a theoretical one; we want to act and convince others that we have to plead for health. This is why we consider that the most interesting part, from which we gain the greatest satisfaction, is that concerning national and international diplomacy. We can’t have any results if we don’t get actively involved by establishing close and long lasting relationships with everybody interested in the subject. Just by encouraging people to access our website we are extending our actions at an impressive level.

To be ambassadors of this project was one of our goals from the beginning and proof stand the local presentation and the participation to a national symposium and contest. Furthermore, the interviews taken personally or on-line present us as devoted ambassadors of this action. Another strong point of our campaign is related to the local TV station, which has broadcasted the project many times in order to make is accessible to our community. The fliers we gave away have also proved to be very useful in this matter.

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

We want to show people that nobody can live for them, that the choices of today reflect upon the future. This is why this project is referred to as an alarm to wake us up from our ignorance. We have presented risk factors of an inadequate lifestyle, insisting on pathological elements and standing up for a healthy lifestyle. We haven’t stopped at doing a formal survey, we tried to transform the ones around us into collaborators which have to realize these imperatives and help others do it too. The availability we found abroad made us aim higher. They have identified themselves with our situation, confronting the effects of an unhealthy life, wanting to plead for health. We will surely maintain the partnership, not only with them, but also with the experts we have contacted, all of them being excited to help us in the future. This project is also a valuable didactical material for any teacher.

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

Our project was one of that tried to make a difference. We have always addressed the local community and received support on its behalf. In fact, if we could have, we would have included the entire class as team members, because, not only have they helped us with information, but they also got involved in the application of the questionnaire, explaining the importance of being sincere to both teachers and students, and offered advice on the design and structure. We would have never got so far if it weren’t for our coordinating teacher, who offered us moral support and tips on how to improve the project. At the same time, we stirred up the interest of some people from abroad who wanted to help by giving us valuable data for our action.

The local impact depended on the News Media, who seemed interested in our project, and our campaign, in general. Thus, we engaged the local newspaper and the local TV station (which filmed our manifestation) in our project. Our school magazine, together with the pictures from our school presentation and the fliers we gave away, proved to be another accessible and efficient way of informing.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We noticed that people are open when it comes to things about their own health; they want to live a healthy life and are not reluctant to new ideas or afraid to change their lifestyle. The problems concerning this aspect are somewhat alike, no matter the country, though at a different scale (the fact that Americans have greater alimentation problems, while we are confronted with plenty of vices, like smoking or drinking). We were surprised to find out that people of the same age as us don’t have or don’t want to find some time to spend with their families, in the detriment of their friends.

In the end, what is obvious is that if we want us and the people around us to have a healthier and thus, brighter, we must “Teach and Unite”!