CyberFair Project ID: 7309

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: Clean The City Save Balili
Category: 7. Environmental Awareness
URL: http://www.wix.com/3science/savebalili/balili#!__balili
Bibliography: http://www.wix.com/3science/savebalili/balili#!__balili/vstc2=project-narrative/vstc1=bibliography

School: Saint Louis Laboratory High School
    Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines

23 students, ages 14-16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 16, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2010, 2011

Classes and Teachers: Vincent Tabor, Jay and 3-Mapagpakumbaba Class

E-Mail contact:

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

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

Baguio City has always been known for its cool climate; the forests of green pine trees surrounding it; and the pine scented sleepy charm it generally possesses. Known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, one can say that the city is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Northern Luzon. Through the decades our community has gone from being a small village, and then called Kafagway, to being a highly-urbanized city. Even so, the development that took place had done little to dampen the brilliant flame that was Baguio’s soul.

Despite being a small city with a total area of 57km2, it surprisingly has an exploding population, with its citizens reaching up to more than 450 000 just last 2011, compared to the 300 000 that was recorded 4 years earlier. Near one of the 129 barangays of Baguio City, Balili River is located. Trancoville, the community around the said river, already has a population of more than 3 000. The river is not safe when it comes to cleanliness, in that it already has a barangay of more than 3 000 members surrounding it.

During our visit to the river, we have seen that the houses are just adjacent to the river bank, and that there was a large amount of garbage that was being disposed of in the river; most of them consisted of plastics.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our project focuses on the environmental problem faced in our community, Baguio City. We have chosen the problem on the water pollution found in one of the biggest river in the Cordillera Administrative Region that flows in our city because it is one of the major problems that the government of our city and another province is solving together. Last July 2011, La Trinidad’s government confirmed that the Balili River’s condition is worsening mostly because of the wastes coming from Baguio City. The river flowing down La Trinidad causes problems to the people like diseases, foul smell, and it also causes clogging which causes floods on the different parts of the province. During one of the workshops, La Trinidad challenged the City of Baguio to reduce, if not totally eliminate, waste disposal into the river. One of their ways in promoting the “Save the Balili River” project is through competitions in the different schools. They have logo and poster making contests, jingle competitions, song writing contests, mascot designing contests, and many others. This only shows that students from elementary to college are actually helping in promoting the said project. Different government, schools, and private sectors are helping one another to battle the actual problem present in our society. We can see that people are still actually trying to save the environment and that they are doing this without expecting something in return. We would like to showcase that we shouldn’t be afraid of showing what we can do and that we can change something. If we want to do something that is right, there will always be people who will back us up.

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:2-3

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We, being in the special class of the science section, had many problems to face. We have many requirements that were needed to be submitted in the different subject areas. We were short on time especially during this last quarter. We had many activities which made time short for us. Projects, quizzes, seatworks, assignments, requirements, and exams were needed to be accomplished and passed for the last three weeks of the month. We are also participants of the Doors to Diplomacy project which doubled our work because we were doing them simultaneously. The Doors to Diplomacy and CyberFair were announced to us last October. Since we only have limited time to do all the projects and requirements, we were actually focusing on other projects that are needed to be passed during the past quarter. Because we are also in the science section, the teachers have high expectations from us and gave us extra works which are both hard and time consuming. The lack of time because of the different requirements, sleep deprivation, stress, and pressure made us physically and mentally exhausted. We also had a problem to gather data because we didn’t have the time for it. At the same time, the famous Panagbenga of Baguio is being celebrated and it made hard for us to go to the Balili. While we had many problems that we need to face, we still found ways and solutions to solve these problems. Determination, patience, perseverance, creativity, and cooperation, all alongside with discipline, helped us to still create this website. Sleepless nights and hectic schedules did not stop us from patiently gathering the data needed and complete the essays assigned to us. The high expectations of our teachers served as our pushing factors to improve our work.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

You can’t do it unless you imagine it.” A dream becomes a reality in 4 stages: dreaming, wanting, planning, and doing. Courage is the glue. If you don’t have courage you will never want it bad enough to plan. If you don’t have courage you will never plan it well enough to do it. If you don’t have courage you will never fulfil your dreams. If you do not fulfil your dreams, you may not have the courage to dream again.

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

Initially, our participation in the CyberFair was intended to be an application of our lessons in our Technology and Home Economics 3 curriculum. This was the chance we were given to show how much we had learned during the 9 or so months we spent in school. However, there is really no academic value to all of this (if “academic value” is synonymous with grades) since we also had to prioritize our entries for the Doors to Diplomacy. Our project for the CyberFair was also a requirement for us to be cleared for the school year; therefore it is a required coursework.

Our school calls for its students to take on the four core values of Creativity, Competence, Christian Spirit and Social Involvement, all of which served as our basis in the making of this project. What was interesting about our project was the fact that not only did it require the utilization of our computers and the improvement of our digital literacy, but it also became an application of the aforementioned core values. In the making of our website we had learned to think outside the box and to think of different methods that deviated from the norm. We became more cooperative; the urgency of this project being the cause for us to all work together and to somehow outdo ourselves. But more importantly, we were able to carry out our roles as students who engage the core values. For some people who have passed through this learning, it is a way of life – a code of principles and ethics which are passed on to the people whose lives they touch.

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Project Elements

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

Information tools and technologies enabled us to complete our CyberFair project. Some of these tools are the 23 personal computers located in each member's home. These computers helped us to gather information and embellish photos, create articles and decorate our website. This tool, we can say, was the most valuable and helpful because it made the work more manageable. Telephones are located in some of the members' homes while cellular phones are owned by each member. Both served as the communication tool among the members. It administered unity between and among them whenever they are far from each other; they used cellphones as their means of communication. Video and digital still cameras are used to capture images and videos that will be used for the said project. Some are owned by the members while some are borrowed. These are some of the most helpful tools because it enabled us to capture images and videos that will later be used in the website. The school library enriched the members with information as well as news clips regarding the topic. The internet is one of our most valuable tools. It enabled the members to surf the web and gather information about the said topic. It also provided communication between and among the members. Slow internet connection speed did not become a barricade for us to finish our project. Some members woke up early in the morning, when few people are using the internet, so they may use a better internet connection.

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

As students, we have the privilege of getting to know people around the City of Baguio and La Trinidad. With that, we get to roam around, promoting, representing what we wish to give out and tell others. We started off with the people we know. Along the way, questions were imposed on the said issues. As spokespersons, we have the ability to speak up for the issue. Since there are concerned citizens around, similar to that of us, we get to entertain them. Although there are no formal conventions where we could speak up to be heard, or to simply explain and answer the audience’s questions, our simple presence in front of them to answer their questions and inquiries on the project was sufficient. For those who were not within Baguio but were also concerned, we had posted on social networking sites to be of service. There were also online forums where we promoted our project and we dealt with the issues that were present and brought about. Since the website can’t speak of anything apart from its content, we had to speak up for it.

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

We believe that our project will make a difference by making the people aware that it's time to stand and make a move to help Mother Earth. We believe our project will help decrease the diseases brought by dirty surroundings such as polluted rivers or different bodies of water. We also hope our project will help the people to make an initiative in cleaning their surroundings and most importantly, discipline the people by following the rules given by the different agencies of our government regarding our natural resources. Our web pages were seen by the members of the community and it was shared in different places in and out of the country. With these, we have received good feedbacks because of our concern and our willingness to help in our environment. Our website have helped the people to care for the place we live in especially now that we are experiencing different calamities. People in our community will learn a lot through our Web page. They will learn how to value their community and to maintain cleanliness to avoid different health problems. They will also learn how to preserve the beauty of nature. We have established new working relationships with people in the community. There are people who are concerned about our project and wanted to volunteer in decreasing the water pollution in the river. Some leaders of the community also helped by making simple rules (i.e. no throwing of garbage here) to avoid further pollution in Balili river.

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

Our project was not exclusive to our teacher and class. The website was not exclusively done within the campus, and we also managed to get other people involved, such as those that are knowledgeable of the information required.

First of all, we sought people who were within our reach. They are our parents and other people from nearby schools. They helped in the research since they also had course requirements concerning information on environmental protection. We were able to convince them to help by simply asking, or by showing them the contest details. They were the “closest” help, with the exception of our coach and adviser. Next, we approached those who were a bit harder to reach. Some of the people involved were under sectors of the government. Luckily, one was a friend of Engineer Delos Santos, the father of one of the members. Our coach also had connections outside. To be able to attract their attention and convince them to help, we had one to three members who are the best in persuading to do what they’re good at. Fortunately, it was a success.

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