Technology allows kids to get to know one another

Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of tolerance has become the center point in a relationship that utilizes cutting-edge videoconferencing technology to connect children at St. Casimir's Regional School in Albany with a suburban Glenmont elementary school.

"Basically, we'd like our children to meet children that they wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to meet," said Cheryl Steinhorst, a K-1 teacher at St. Casimir's.

While 90 percent of St. Casimir's students are African-American, most of Glenmont's elementary-schoolers are white. Ms. Steinhorst believes that the children from the two classes would have never met without St. Casimir's videoconferencing technology.

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That technology has allowed the children at St. Casimir's to interact with their peers at Glenmont, to chat about baseball and bugs, to sing songs and tell stories, and to learn that behind their different cultures and skin shades, all children are the same.

"They're chuckling at the names on both sides," said Ms. Steinhorst. "I've got some names in my room that are ethnic, but my kids had never heard the name 'Liam.' They're learning that as many differences we have, there are a lot of similarities."

That, said Glenmont first-grade teacher Peter Rawitsch, is an important lesson for youngsters -- and where learning about Dr. King comes in.

"That's what he was all about -- bringing people together," the teacher explained. "My kids found out that the kids at St. Casimir's were just like them. It's been a powerful experience."

Bridges

Because the Bethlehem school district's budget is frozen, finding money for field trips is difficult for Mr. Rawitsch. A similar situation faces St. Casimir's, although Ms. Steinhorst hopes the two classes can meet in person one day.

Meanwhile, the children are working on an arrangement that would put St. Casimir's students on the Glenmont auditorium stage alongside Mr. Rawitsch's students to sing a song based on Doreen Rappaport's book, "Martin's Big Words," which introduces children to Dr. King's message and the civil rights movement. This will occur without having to move the St. Casimir's children from their computer lab in Albany.

"We have a large screen [at Glenmont]," said Mr. Rawitsch. "When we put the show on, it'll look like both classes are on stage. A group of African-American children performing on our stage -- that's great."

Technology

Ms. Steinhorst said that the children at St. Casimir's, who are coming of age in a media-saturated world, have taken to the technology quickly.

"Most children grow up with the television, with the newscast, and they think it's awesome that the TV talks back to them," she said. "I hope that they will start to understand the technology available to them and to understand that this is something they'll be doing all their lives."

(The St. Casimir's videoconferencing technology was donated through Project VIEW, a Schenectady City School District grant program open to all local schools. It trains teachers to use and integrate technology into the curriculum.)

(5/8/03) [[In-content Ad]]