RMS students complete projects
Russellville Middle School students who are part of the Family and Consumer Sciences class recently participated in a project called “Around the World” where students learned how people outside the United States lived on a day-to-day basis.
FACS teacher Rachel Agee said the project was something she came up with to broaden the way her students think about the world.
“I think it is especially vital for students to understand other cultures and show respect for everyone,” Agee said. “To do that, I decided it would be great to have the students research several areas around the world.
“Many of my students think in the realm of their everyday life, but I wanted them to exercise their minds and understand there are so many things and so many people out there. I wanted them to learn about these other cultures and how they affect our culture here in the United States.”
Agee said that by increasing the students’ knowledge of other cultures outside the U.S., they would also be expanding their knowledge on the many cultures that exist within the U.S. borders.
“Within our society of the United States, we have several cultural differences that are valuable and should be preserved,” she said. “Obviously, I want my students to respect other cultures, and what better way to respect them than if they actually know about them and understand?”
The students used the computer lab to research an assigned area of the world. Students discovered what languages were spoken in that country, which industries sustain the area, what recipes they use, the housing options that are available, the kind of technology that’s used, the form of government implemented there, what currency is used and what the people do for entertainment.
“I wanted to increase project-based learning with technology as well as hands-on work,” Agee said. “I also added the aspect of presenting their project to give the students experience in public speaking.”
While many people associate FACS classes with cooking and sewing, Agee said the classes are so much more than that.
“Family and Consumer Sciences focus on students learning life skills,” Agee said. “Cooking is a part of our class and we utilized this skill at the end of the project when students prepared a recipe from one of the countries they researched.
“But another very important life skill is to show respect for others. They will use this skill as they grow as individuals and into the workplace because respect is a vital component of success.
“The students also gained great experience researching, which I know they will use as they further their education.”
Students Ashleigh Morgan and Michaela Smith, who researched the country of Kenya, said they were able to discover many things about the country they did not know before.
“I thought it was interesting to learn how they spend money and the currency they use,” Smith said. “The activities they have available are very limited compared to what I have here at Russellville Middle School.”
“It was hard to research the housing that is available to the underclass in Kenya and it is strange to see how money is unavailable to many of the people,” Morgan added. “I feel very blessed to have a nice house. It was also neat to see they have pets just like us.”
“It was interesting to see what all the students found and I was excited to learn as well,” Agee said. “I was very proud of their creativity, hard work and ability to embrace other cultures.”
