‘Power of One’ Inspires Middle-Schoolers
By Chelsea Deweese, The Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff
Jan. 26–Mount Elden Middle School eighth-grader Catie Thornsley will get a taste of world history today when she attends a luncheon with Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the protagonist in the film “Hotel Rwanda.”
She’s one of about 30 students and other local residents invited to dine with the world-renowned humanitarian, who’s in Flagstaff this week as a guest speaker at Northern Arizona University.
During an interview Thursday, Thornsley said she’s still formulating questions she’d like to ask Rusesabagina, particularly about the role he played in saving more than 1,200 Rwandans from slaughter during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
“I just want to know about what his experience was like when he saved all those people,” Thornsley said.
Thornsley and other MEMS students studied Rusesabagina’s background and his experience during the Rwandan Genocide before his Flagstaff visit. Nearly 1 million ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu Rwandans were murdered over an approximately three-month period during the genocide, led mostly by an extremist Hutu government. Rusesabagina is giving a special, student-only presentation this morning at Coconino High School.
The luncheon will follow.
Thornsley earned the privilege of attending the Rusesabagina luncheon after completing a research-intensive classroom project called “Power of One,” the concept of MEMS social studies teacher Diana Laufenberg.
In Power of One, nearly 120 MEMS seventh- and eighth-grade students each created “movies” on social activists who they felt significantly contributed to society in a positive way. The movies were biographical photographs and video clips overlaid with students’ narratives on Windows Movie Maker computer software.
Students choices ran the gamut: subjects ranged from computer giant and AIDS activist Bill Gates to the late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin to Mexican labor leader Cesar Chavez.
For Thornsely — who was voted “best movie” and awarded the luncheon — the choice was evident: civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He just really positively impacted the world and my life,” Thornsely said. “He was a really great person to do. He was the first person who came to my mind.”
Laufenberg said MEMS teenagers were enthusiastic about the Power of One project because it allowed them to integrate technology and interesting subject matter into a display they could then exhibit before their peers.
She cited an example of one student, known for falling asleep in class, staying after school for hours perfecting his narrative and audio.
“When (students) have an authentic audience — that’s not just me — they tend to perform in a different way,” Laufenberg said. “So I try to do this type of thing as much as possible.”
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