Myracle Martin practiced her tone and pace of speech when she prepared to tell the story of Glenwood Elementary and its history on the West Side of Charleston. Martin and classmates Nykiera Dixon, Lexi Walls and Calesha Williamson speak for Ms. Glenwood Grant Elementary, or "Glenda," for short.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Myracle Martin practiced her tone and pace of speech when she prepared to tell the story of Glenwood Elementary and its history on the West Side of Charleston.
Martin and classmates Nykiera Dixon, Lexi Walls and Calesha Williamson speak for Ms. Glenwood Grant Elementary, or "Glenda," for short.
"You may see my exterior in disrepair, and my interior with a breaking heart. In a few short years my days will be coming to an end," Glenda says. "Oh, excuse me. I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up to the good old days when the West Side of Charleston was in a booming era."
The four students recorded audio for a digital storytelling project, where they intend to share Glenwood's story through video, pictures, sound and music before the school closes. Within a few years, students at Glenwood and Chandler elementary schools are expected to enroll in a consolidated school at the corner of Kanawha Boulevard West and Florida Street.
Technology specialist Adam Feazell helped the girls slow their speech and told them to not get too close, or too far away, from the microphone.
They also learned to speak softly and use different expressions, depending on the mood of the script. The music that accompanies the dialogue, like "Revival in Spring," and "Witches Approaching," will also illustrate a change in mood.
Glenwood Principal Johnny Ferrara received training in digital storytelling this past summer and decided the fourth- and fifth-grade girls should tell a story about their school and neighborhood's history.
Ferrara got the idea after he found old pictures from Glenwood that date back to the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
"The building is the narrator," he said.
Glenda tells the story of the neighborhood's golf course in the early 1900s, then Luna Park with its roller coaster, rides, swimming pool and picnic areas.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Myracle Martin practiced her tone and pace of speech when she prepared to tell the story of Glenwood Elementary and its history on the West Side of Charleston.
Martin and classmates Nykiera Dixon, Lexi Walls and Calesha Williamson speak for Ms. Glenwood Grant Elementary, or "Glenda," for short.
"You may see my exterior in disrepair, and my interior with a breaking heart. In a few short years my days will be coming to an end," Glenda says. "Oh, excuse me. I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up to the good old days when the West Side of Charleston was in a booming era."
The four students recorded audio for a digital storytelling project, where they intend to share Glenwood's story through video, pictures, sound and music before the school closes. Within a few years, students at Glenwood and Chandler elementary schools are expected to enroll in a consolidated school at the corner of Kanawha Boulevard West and Florida Street.
Technology specialist Adam Feazell helped the girls slow their speech and told them to not get too close, or too far away, from the microphone.
They also learned to speak softly and use different expressions, depending on the mood of the script. The music that accompanies the dialogue, like "Revival in Spring," and "Witches Approaching," will also illustrate a change in mood.
Glenwood Principal Johnny Ferrara received training in digital storytelling this past summer and decided the fourth- and fifth-grade girls should tell a story about their school and neighborhood's history.
Ferrara got the idea after he found old pictures from Glenwood that date back to the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
"The building is the narrator," he said.
Glenda tells the story of the neighborhood's golf course in the early 1900s, then Luna Park with its roller coaster, rides, swimming pool and picnic areas.
The children studied how the park played a big role in how the neighborhood's odd streets are laid out.
"The amusement park was here and they kept the streets the same as they would be to the rides," Ferrara said.
The park burned in the early 1920s, just before Glenwood Elementary was built.
Pictures from the late 1950s and early 1960s will illustrate school integration, as the still photos from the 1940s only show class pictures with white children, Ferrara said.
The story also reflects the neighborhood's troubles with drugs and crime in the 1970s.
In a couple of months, Glenwood students will host a red carpet premiere to show their families the projects. "We'll probably get some fans," Lexi Walls said. Other Glenwood students are working on projects that explore Greek mythology and Thanksgiving.
"They really enjoy it and they don't seem to know that they're learning," Feazell said.
Martin and other students have worked on the project outside the classroom. Teachers might need about three years to grasp the audio-editing, image-editing and video-editing software needed for digital storytelling, Feazell said.
"It can be part of the curriculum without making it something extra," he said.
Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 348-1254.
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