School: Shanghai Community International School-HQ
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China

4 students, ages 14-15 worked together to complete this Doors to Diplomacy project on March 7, 2012. They have participated in Doors to Diplomacy in the following year(s): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Classes and Teachers: Amy Brill, Joey Gribble, Hailey G., Winnie K., Erica G., Hikari H.

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://scischina.org

1. Description of Our Team

Our group is made up of four girls. Hailey (15), Hikari (14), Winnie (14), and Erica (15). We joined together because we all had different aspects to contribute to the group. We all are leaders and are hard workers so we got things done very fast. Hailey was the main website maker, as Hikari, Erica, and Winnie did more of the research and Citing. In the end, all the jobs got done. Amy Brill was our adult coach, she is our Language Arts teacher and helped us meet deadlines, stay focused, and catch mistakes we made. She told us when we needed to have things done by to keep on track, and also helped set up an editing process for us.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our Doors to Diplomacy project is about Education in Leadership. It is about how all children in the world should be able to have an chance at getting a good education. This site explains that children should not be put into hard labor, they should have protection, health, and happiness.

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

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

We had a very good connection to the internet almost all the time, each one of us also has their own laptop.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Our group was not that bad at being a group other than communicating. At first, we were a little confused at what we were doing. When we finally met up, we discussed about each individuals' job. In the end, we all knew what we were doing and got our tasks done. There was actually a moment when late at night, one of the members got a message from another member that there was a whole list of things to do that we did not do. We ended up pulling it all together and actually made a very productive, creative website. This whole time, we were very busy in our own individual schedules which meant that we did not have any time to meet up. Erica, she had play practice, Hikari had play practice as well, Hailey had sports and I had rock climbing. It was very hard to know what our roles in the group were but we managed to write on each others' walls and pass on messages for each other.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The girls knew that I had prior knowledge to UNICEF, so they trusted me with the description about UNICEF. Growing up, learning about poverty everywhere in the world, I was very experienced with filling up the knowledge part of the website. International schools usually care about global issues so they try their best to educate their kids on poverty. I know the severity of not having an education so we all try our best to experience and appreciate our education. They don't want the next generation to create a barrier of ignorance towards the situations of poverty. I tried emphasizing the severeness of poverty.

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

Our Doors to Diplomacy project addressed the lack of education many kids in China are receiving due to poverty. We learned about the whole poverty circle and how it never ends, the only way to break through it is by getting an education. The internet is probably more effective than traditional methods since we have a teenage audience base. Although we did struggle trying to use the internet in a country where a VPN must be available to access many sites, we overcame it. The issue of nearby poverty and how education can help stop it, fit into our social studies requirement for a paper on wrong in the world which we must right. We got to experience the real life situation together as a group, and become closer together while shedding a few tears. To represent Shanghai Community International School, getting the whole community involved into helping find this missing puzzle piece, was really an amazing thing we all feel proud about.

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

We used some information tools and technology to complete our Doors to Diplomacy project. We used our computers most of the time, using the internet a lot. We went on lots of different websites to see what information was the best. Also we looked at many videos to see which one would look best on the website and we got some information for the videos. We looked through some newspapers to see if there was any information about China's education. This tools helped to see what kind of education is around the world. To see that education is important. Our most valuable tool is the internet, because we could see many different websites with different ideas of education.

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

Our team acted as ambassadors towards our local community. We promoted and encouraged open discussion. We will continue to be available to our community to field further questions and direct people to good sources of information.

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

Our project will hopefully help people recognize the importance of education and the privilege we have to gain knowledge. China is a developing country, and without knowledge, the poverty cycle will never end. Education is the only way to break that ongoing circle, and by helping kids in China learn, the difference between classes will decrease. We live in China, but it's a whole other developed world compared to what people see on TV each day, the problem we are trying to adress to the international community we live in. Kids here have grown up in the high class, most of them oblivious to the real life situation happening right under our eyes, the inability for children to get educated because they have to help their parents' earn money for their family.

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

Our project involved mostly two helpers. Amy Brill who helped us a lot with editing the website. Also with knowing what to put on the website so we didn't miss any important items. The other person to help was Joey Gribble. Joey helped us a lot with the tech. He helped a lot when it had to come to uploading the video to our website and helped with the web design of it. We didn't need that much help, because we are confident about our subject, but we are glad to have such amazing helps. Thank you to our two helpers!