Song composition spans Atlantic ocean (photo, video)
Thursday, March 21, 2013 by: Darren Taylor
Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board students have made themselves, their families and their teachers very proud by using their talents to help promote a more inclusive society.
Encouraging inclusivity was the theme of a contest for school children organized by Community Living Algoma.
Included as prizes were new iPads.
St. Paul Catholic School Grade Two student Gaige Running (shown at Wednesday’s HSCDSB meeting with St. Paul Principal Joe Chilelli) won an iPad for his inclusivity-themed drawing.
St. Mary’s College Grade 12 student with Special Needs Quinn Pleau-MacWilliam, who will be attending Sault College this fall in the culinary program, won an iPad for his inspiring and witty video in which he spoke of the importance of a more inclusive society.
The St. John Catholic School Grade Six and Seven class, taught by Ted McKinney, also won an iPad for an inclusivity-themed music video which was co-produced, through the wonders of modern technology, with Gretton Primary School children in England.
Tutor Jonathan Carnaroli, who edited the finished, polished video, told SooToday.com “at St. John we decided to go with the music video because I have quite a bit of experience doing these things…(the students) jumped at the opportunity.”
“We started brainstorming ideas on the theme of being inclusive. The ideas started flowing.”
“The children put all the lyrics together and came up with the beat. It’s totally original, all done by these guys. It’s pretty incredible,” Carnaroli said.
More information about the St. John Celebrate Inclusion Project at the HSCDSB website at www.hscdsb.on.ca
“The students, at first, were excited about winning an iPad, but as the project grew it became more about getting to meet these children from England,” Carnaroli said.
“They sent the lyrics to England and had those children listen to those lyrics, then they came up with their own lyrics and sent them back to Canada to complete the song.”
“All of a sudden we’ve built this relationship with these students we’ve never met before, and that really encompasses the idea of inclusion more than anything else. The kids were very, very excited about the outcome.”
“It’s a great feeling when you see the end result and how proud the kids are of their product. It’s a great feeling to see it all come together.”
Remarkably, the entire project was completed over the course of only four days, in February.
“Possibilities are endless with this project, the door is open to do another project. It’s a great opportunity for the kids here in the Sault and England, a cultural experience.”
Carnaroli said “technology opens up so many doors that we didn’t have 10 or 15 years ago, so we should definitely take advantage of it so that students can harness their creativity.”
St. John Celebrate Inclusion Project
