School: Menchville High School
    Newport News, Virginia, United States of America

4 students, ages all students are 18 worked together to complete this Doors to Diplomacy project on March 12, 2012. They have participated in Doors to Diplomacy in the following year(s): 2011

Classes and Teachers: Mr. Dreyer, Ariel, Chelsea, Alex, Nick

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://mville.nn.k12.va.us/

1. Description of Our Team

Our team consisted of Chelsea, Ariel, Nick, and Alex. We joined together to do this project because three of us took a class called international relations taught by our coach. We read a book called Half the Sky in the class and our coach suggested that we make a website about women's issues for the Doors to Diplomacy Project. Ariel, Nick, and Alex made interactive maps, researched information, and made movies as class projects based on the book. Chelsea joined the team because she is good at making movies and she was interested in the project. She made a movie about human trafficking by herself.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our project is about issues impacting women around the world. The project focuses on four major areas; human trafficking, access to education, gender equality in the workforce, and political participation.

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:2-3

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 team had very few barriers to overcome. We all have internet access with high speed connections at home. One problem we encountered was that the school blocked the wix.com website so we could not work on the project during school time. This made it much more difficult to coordinate time and work together as a group.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Reading the book Half the Sky in class and completing this project has definitely opened our eyes to the issues women face in most of the world. Most of the problems we describe in the website are not evident in the United States therefore they are not issues that we think about on a daily basis. Two of our members are also males and we think it helped them understand in some small part how women are treated in the world.

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

Researching and compiling this website supported many major national content standards. This website helped us understand time, continuity, and change as it is related to the struggle for women's rights. We were able to see how women's rights have developed in Europe and North America and how it is still developing around the world. This website also helped us understand global connections because it talks about human rights, healthcare, and political awareness. In addition this project was directly related to our school curriculum in international relations because one aspect of international relations is to study global social issues.

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

We found that the best and most reliable information was from government reports such as the global gender gap report. Reports from the United Nations and the U.S. Department of Justice and State provided reliable statistics and a good starting point. In terms of technology we used computers with internet access and the website wix.com, which is a free software tool to make flash websites from templates. In class we used iMovie to make videos about women's issues and google interactive maps to make the rollover maps on the website.

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

We feel that to be a good ambassador we must first be well informed on the subject. Therefore, reading the book Half the Sky and making this website is only a first step in getting the information out to the world. We hope that this website will be used next year in class and it can be used as a platform to raise awareness in schools around Newport News.

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

We have not shown our website to anyone yet because it is not complete. However, as stated in a previous entry we feel like this website will be a great platform for introducing high school students to the issues faced by women around the world. We do feel like this project will make a different because even if no one sees the website it has already helped us understand women's issues. We can be advocates for women around the world in our daily life.

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

We could not have completed this website without the help of our coach, Mr. Dreyer. He showed has how to make google interactive maps in class and how to make movies using iMovie software. We would also like to thank Mr. Doering, a media specialist at Menchville who helped us use the green screen on one of the iMovies and edit the movies.