School: Clinton High School
    Clinton , New York , USA

4 students, ages 16, 17, 18, 18 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 22, 2010. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2010

Classes and Teachers: Mrs. Glickman, Mr. Nesbitt, Thomas, Anne, Adrienne, Tara

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://ccs.edu/

1. Description of Our Team

Our group is made of four students, commonly called double A double T, Anne, Adrienne, Thomas and Tara.We started working as a group after being intrigued by Thoma's initial idea of discussing communication. Anne, 16, main job was to work on the some of the culture and language guides; specifically focused on French. Thomas, 18, his job was to work on some of the culture and language guides specifically with his knowledge of American Sign Language. Adrienne, 17, she also worked on the language and culture guides; specifically with her background knowledge of Spanish. Tara, 18, her main portion was receiving all of the information from the other group members and putting in an appealing way on the website. Mrs. Glickman our teacher worked along with us every step of the way. Her vast knowledge and encouragement was invaluable to the success of our group. Micheal Nesbitt, Thomas' translator, was a key success to our team. He helped us communicate with Thomas in the correct way. We appreciate all those who helped us along the way.

http://www.wix.com/doubleadoublet/Doors-To-Dimplomacy click on our project and read through the our team book!

2. Summary of Our Project

Diplomacy is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations; skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility. We feel that the first step to reaching diplomacy is to become aware of other cultures and understand the differences that are present in countries throughout the world. Each member of the global community belongs to a unique cultural background, and in order to understand a person we must learn about their beliefs, language, and traditions. Peaceful negotiations cannot be reached without communication, thus we stress the importance of immersing oneself in the worlds most popular languagesto always be prepared!

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

The largest problems we faced was working with a limited amount of time. We had to have had the project basically complete by the end of January so it could be graded for our final exam in International Studies. Also, working with a Thomas, who happens to be deaf and his translator, Micheal to be able to communicate with him. Everything took a little bit longer but we all learned the importance of communication on a deeper level than just being able to travel better. We learned that it is about how things work when there is positive communication and how things fail when communication lacks. We also had a hard time learning the tough copyright laws and teaching ourselves how to build a working website. In the end we took away more than just learning about other cultures around the world but learning about each other and how we work together.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Our Doors to Diplomacy project affected members of our class and of our community by providing easily accessible information that anyone could attain when desired. We are empowering others with knowledge, which is the best tool for communication.

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

We completed our Doors to Diplomacy project in our International Studies class, and it fit perfectly into the curriculum. Not only did we gather new information about nations around the world, but we were able to display the importance of this knowledge. International relations rely heavily on the understanding of others' cultures, languages, beliefs, and traditions. There is so much more to a person than what meets the eye, and we stress this throughout our web page by informing others. Being able to use the internet for the majority of our research was a great advantage for us, as we received current, up-to-date information that we were easily able to transfer to our web page.

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

We used lots of different technologies when working on our project. Tara did work on PC's during class but when working outside of class and at home she stuck with her preferred MAC. We would use four computers during class and often Thomas, Adrienne, and Anne would work from home to do their research. We used e-mail to communicate with each other and share information. We used still camera's in the taking of our pictures and photoshop to make our group picture. We used a video camera and imovie to make the American Sign Language portion of the site. We used websites and books in the media center to help us along the way. We also held many oral interviews with community people that had knowledge about the topics we were researching. These tools were a key to our success in making an awesome website!

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

We feel that in society communication is everything. In order to improve conditions throughout the world, it is important to gain different perspectives and share ideas. Our project allows people to do this successfully with people of different cultures everywhere. The website we created is very educational, teaching different customs and languages so people have an easier way of exchanging ideas and working to the positives. We have had several adults at school, comment on our work saying that through our website they learned a lot of new information and became more familiar with different areas around the world. It was very rewarding to be helpful as a student and help those who are usually the teachers.

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

Yes, our project will make a difference. Living in the small town of Clinton, there is not much exposure to the different cultures that are present in the world today. This project will open up many eyes and educated people so that they will have a better understanding of the world, and hopefully use it to connect with those of a different culture and language. The teachers in our school who have become interested in our project have said that it was very interesting and well presented. The teachers were also kind enough to say that it was very valuable in helping people of different languages communicate while also respecting their culture. We felt that not only was it important to have valid information but also have a website where people enjoyed themselves while becoming more aware of the world around them.

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

We had many helpers throughout our project. We started by using class members. We had a class member from Sweden, one who lived in Canada and another who lived in Mexico. They all helped us with our research. Then we sought help from Vincent the exchange student from Belgium. Anne's sister helped us with the Chinese portion of the project. She is studying Mandarian as a long distance learning class in the 7th grade. We also used Emily and Matt with some technical assistance. Emily was our amazing editor, after all after our team looked at the pages for three months it all looked the same! Matt helped us to launch our website and how to use the Wix platform. Thomas Teacher of the Deaf and Translator were extremely helpful with their knowledge of ASL and also to help us communicate with Thomas. Mr. Gaetano for lending his Mac lab to let me work on the project and all of the Media Center Staff! Most of all a big thanks to Mrs. Glickman, our fabulous teacher who kept us going on the project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

All four of us learned a great deal about each country and culture that we researched: from typical cuisines to common greetings to family customs. In addition to this new information, we each earned a greater understanding of what it takes to design a fully-functioning website. This was probably the greatest obstacle to overcome, as none of us had any previous understanding in this field. It was a tremendously educational experience for us all, and the time put in to building our website was well worth while, as we are now able to share much of this knowledge with others around the world.