School: Yang MIng Junior High School
    Changhua , Changhua County, Taiwan

10 students, ages 14-15 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 3, 2016. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2015

Classes and Teachers: Lee, Kuo-Feng / Liao,You-Wei / Huang, Xian-Ren

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.ymsc.chc.edu.tw/ymsc/index.php

1. Description of Our Community

Changhua County is located in the western part of Taiwan Island. To its north is Taichung City, to its east is Nantou County and to its south is Yulin County. In the west, Changhua County faces the Taiwan Strait. Changhua has been famous for its fertile soil and therefore it is called 'the Granary of Taiwan.' Besides, the scenic views of mountains and historical architectures in Changhua are wonderful and attractive. Changhua is also well-known for its local foods. People around Taiwan love to visit Changhua for a taste of the delicious local snacks. All of these attractions make Changhua County a must-see place. The address of Changhua stray dogs’ shelter is No. 426, Ln. Abao, Yuanlin Town, Changhua County. It is faster to take County Road 139 to go to the shelter. County Road 139 is currently the heaven for cyclists and heavy-motor bikers. Because it runs through the plateau of mountain Bu-Guah with woods on both sides, most stray dogs haunt the surroundings of the road. In the absence of the village in these wilderness areas, common stray dogs have great influence on the safety of cyclists and heavy-motor bikers. An alley in Lone 875 by Dachang Road reside a vivid billboard on which reads “Changhua Stray Dogs’ Shelter”. Feeling oppressed after entering the small lone, you will see several private cemeteries. And you can hear dogs barking far away the shelter. There also is a garbage dump across from the shelter, and people who come here for the first time may feel unfriendly. The Stray dogs’ shelter is in an isolated building, the appearance looks like a hut farms. It does not have any neighbors, because most people hate it, reject it. All stray dogs’ shelters nationwide have similar encounter. When we started making this project, we asked a lot of native people in Changhua. They all said they did not know about the stray dogs’ shelter, showing its neglected, poor, remote environment.

2. Summary of Our Project

Changhua stray dogs’ shelter is situated in Yuanlin town, just at the boundary between Changhua and Nantou. Its location is quite remote with cemetery and landfill right in front of shelter’s entrance. All stray animals in Changhua County will be sent to the shelter. And lost animals will stay there and wait for the owner to reclaim. Caring people can come here and adopt lovely “hairy children”. Tray animals that do not be adopted for 12 days will be euthanized. Many hairy children live as if treading on thin ice. We hope that people can be aware of their existence through our reports, and make it possible for them to find suitable families. Changhua strays’ dog shelter will hold adoption activities in the third Sunday every month and welcome enquiry and support from interested people and friends. Apart from adoption activities, shelter will organize the “One Volunteer Day” event for caring people to look after stray dogs and to owe a great deal to the caring to these hairy children from the mass?

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:4-6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:1

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Yang MIng Junior High School uses a 100MB fiber-optic scholastic network, which allows us to utilize the internet to search for data as well as to share it among members. In addition to the computer lab, the school also supplies laptop computers which we can borrow and, coupled with the wireless network in school, use to update information over the internet.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The first problem is the making of the project website. We learned to make our project website by asking our teachers and practicing a lot. The second problem is the translation of our project into English. Since English is not our native, we had problem translating our website. However, with the help of the dictionary and our teachers, we finally made it.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

“Love and Care for Stray Animals” had always been a slogan for us before we worked on this project. We didn’t have an opportunity to carry it out. Thanks to our research for this project, we experience being “one-day volunteers,” pay a visit to the stray dogs’ shelter in person, keep every cat company, and caress every dog. Every being is so wonderful that we should respect it and never give it up. We don’t think it’s a good way to mercy-kill them after twelve days. Our government should search for a better way to solve this problem.

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

(1)Improve the 'Ability to Learn' Teachers have often reminded us that students are the major leading characters in the process of learning. Studies on cyberfair project can make participants find and solve problems actively. In the project, we have many opportunities to learn actively instead of learning knowledge in class as usual. (2) Culturing 'the Ability to face Failure” When doing the studies, we encountered lots of failures, but we perked up ourselves to face it and find ways to solve it. In this process, we got more courage in face of challenges and the perserverence to stick to the very end. (3) Emphasize on 'Teamwork' Sometimes we had different opinions when doing the study because we all wanted to achieve perfection. However, we learned how to compromise, to accept others’points of views and to accomplish our work together. We would never finish our study without our teamwork.

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

The technological hardware we used included, computer, digital camera, video camera, cell phone, USB disk. Also we used computer software to help us to do our project including, Microsoft office, Windows Media Player, Namo Webeditor, Swish Max, PhotoImpact, Openoffice Draw, PhotoCap, Internet. In completeing the project, we used cell phone the most. Through APP LINE, we communicated with each others frequently, integrated each others’ parts of work and even encourged each others to keep going on. There were a few programs that we had never used before, including programs for video editing and web page making, thus we had to learn how to use them from the very beginning. It was hard in the first, however the students learned fast and practiced a lot so some of the students even became good at some programs in the end.

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

First, we built our project website to let more people know more about the stray dogs and the changhua stray dogs' shelter. Second, everyone should spare no effort to make it better to find every stray dog a sweet home, including the government, non-governmental organizations, and the people in Taiwan. Third, We really hope you guys can adopt, not to buy them.

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

We have grown up under parents’ protection. We have no experiences in being volunteers. Because of the demand of this project plan, being one-day volunteers at the stray dogs’ shelter is what we have never experienced before. Its main job is to observe dogs, walk them and feed them. This seems simple, boring and meaningless, but we find it very important after the explanation of the long-term volunteers there. We make those hairy children keep happy and healthy, keep learning to live with people and look forward to someone that are doomed to adopt them. Through our social networks, we announce the information. Being volunteers is really dutiful and meaningful.

Do not refuse any charity for its pettiness. As a matter of fact, “Twelve Nights” is only a record film at first. Its director Raye doesn’t believe that it will become a hit at box office of sixty million tickets. His original intention is to arouse society’s attention to the problem about stray animals. Now the movie not only strikes the audience’s chord but also donates its profit to help stray animals. The movie director sets up a good example for us to learn his spirits: doing something good slowly and silently.

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

1.Thank every dog and cat for being with us during the project plan. Only few of them are luckily adopted. Most of them are mercy-killed. We thank you all. 2. We are grateful to everyone at the shelter, Dr. Hung, elder volunteers, working staff and so on included, for guiding us ardently to see every side of stray animals. 3. We appreciate the assistance from our teachers, parents, and senior schoolmates. Your filling out our questionnaires makes us understand your opinions and know how to adjust our research directions.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Before we participated this International Schools CyberFair project, we learned by what our teacher taught us. However, during the process of completing our project, we learned to collect information from the Internet and the library by ourselves. We also learned to summarize and organize the information we had. Moreover, we stepped out of our school and did the first interview in our life. Through the interview, we gained a lot of useful information which we could not read on the Net or in the books. We changed a lot after participating this International Schools CyberFair project—from passive learners to active learners!