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Students keep in touch with Guatemalan friendsJan 31, 2010 (Richmond Register - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The relationship between Madison County Schools and the Prince of Peace Home for Girls in San Cristobal, Guatemala, continues to flourish, thanks to modern technology. Local churches first met the girls through mission trips, and the relationship has continued to grow, with 14 of the girls visiting Madison County in November. Among the schools the girls toured was B. Michael Caudill Middle School. On Monday, Caudill Middle sixth graders conducted a teleconference with four of the girls using Skype, a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. It was the first such teleconference conducted in Madison County Schools, said Karen Clark, who teaches social studies at Caudill Middle and has been focusing on Guatemala as part of a class project to teach sixth graders about a country in South America or Central America. All 200 sixth graders met in the school library, and Tina Barrett, technology integration specialist for Madison County Schools, set up the event, bringing cameras and her own personal computer. "It lasted about 35 minutes," Clark said. "It was all very positive." Students were allowed to choose which country to study and Guatemala was a natural choice, mostly because sixth-grade student Elizabeth Grace Brock had already visited Prince of Peace as part of a mission trip with First Baptist Church on the Eastern Bypass. The girls at Prince of Peace are orphans between the ages of 6 to 21, said Clark. During the teleconference, students exchanged information about favorite foods, music and television shows, with the B. Michael Caudill students learning that the Prince of Peace girls do not have radios, televisions or music devices such as iPods. Weather was also a hot topic, especially since Monday was cold and snowy in Madison County, and it was 75 degrees in Guatemala. Local students also learned other Guatemalan features, such as landscape, terrain and government. "We're kind of adopting them," Clark said. "We write them letters, send them school supplies and just every day things that they don't have. It was just a real good experience for both sides, because now our students all want to help." Teleconferences with the Guatemalan students are being planned at other local schools. Tim Mandell can be reached at [email protected] or 623-1669 ext. 6696. To see more of the Richmond Register or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.richmondregister.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Richmond Register, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |