At the start of the school year we were introduced to a pivotal time period in history. A time of war, innovation, and the emergence of an Atomic Era. Our main focus in class was on the Manhattan project. I’m sure you’ve heard of it but if you didn’t already know, the Manhattan Project was a top secret research initiative in the 1940’s, which produced the only two atomic bombs ever used in warfare. In this unit we had to adapt to having a historical perspective as we took an in depth look at the atomic bomb, the science around it, people behind it, and how it affected the world then and still now today.
We watched videos, read books, and did a range of assignments to help us understand the significants and psychology behind the Manhattan Project. To convey our knowledge we were assigned a video project called “History In 5.” For this project we were required to form groups of five, based on similar interests, and create a movie that consisted of 5 sub topics within a topic. My group chose to do, “The Women At Hanford” and I specifically took on, “Women At Hanford Today.” I personally found my sub topic very interesting because it shows how women went from not having the same opportunities as men to how they’re now leaders in the Hanford clean up and in the field of nuclear science.
All Five Subtopics:
Jayden – Recruitment
Michael – Military and voluntary service
Zakaria – Discrimination
Marley – Leona woods
Me – Women At Hanford Today
In class we did a lot of stuff that helped with our research. We made character cards, wrote letters home as workers, studied biographies, digitally explored the Los Alamos test site, and much much more. However, with this being PLP, we didn’t just research our topic but we actually got to go to the Reed College nuclear reactor and go on a tour of Hanford, one of the secret cities of the Manhattan Project. This trip was so cool for me because the main reason why I joined the Performance Learning Program was to be more interested and invested in what I’m learning. It’s different reading about something that happened and looking at pictures then actually standing where history took place and talking to people who experienced it first hand.
The itinerary below goes into every detail of what our trip looked like
Since this was my first PLP trip I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I was kind of nervous yet optimistic. However, when we arrived all my worries were gone and I was just taken back by everything around me. I got to see things and go to places that I will never forget, like the Hanford B reactor. The B reactor was the first nuclear reactor built at Hanford, being able to go inside and tour it was my favourite part of the entire trip by far. It was just so fascinating that what I was standing in helped produce the second atomic bomb which ended World War II.
Some other things I did that made the trip well worth while were: being a top dog in the legendary shrimp eating contest, going to a life size replica of stone henge and most notably, peering down into the core of the Reed Reactor. This trip with no doubt helped me make a lot of new friends and it showed that a bunch iPad nerds actually knew how to have a pretty good time.
Though our trip has left a long lasting impression on me, it wasn’t all fun and games. While at Hanford my group was responsible for getting as much information as we could for our project. We spent our free time coming up with questions and writing our scripts so we could get good interviews and clips on site. I think the many people we interviewed and talked to helped make our video a lot more interesting and engaging, so It was all worth it. In the long run, our hard work payed off as just our group was selected to present at a large school board meeting.
So you may be wondering, how did I go from coming up with interview questions to presenting to the North Vancouver School Board? Well to get to the point of having a final product, we had to go through several rounds of critique and revision. I’m not gonna lie when I say we got torn apart and sent back to the drawing board more then once. Our first draft was nothing more then a few interview clips and filler images, but what we got from it is that our topics were too alike. Having these sets of critique really helped in how it gave us a good sense of what the expectations were and how we could aim to make it better.
Us at the board meeting.
Overall, from our first draft to our last, we saw significant changes and growth in the quality of the movie. Upon reflection, I think that advice from our teachers was detrimental to our success along with our cohesiveness as a group. I know if I didn’t have four previous PLP students helping me out I’d be completely lost. With that being said, I give everyone full credit for always being on task and contributing, I would gladly work with them again.
In the end my group and I are very happy with our movie and proud of all the hard work we put into it. Throughout this whole process I’ve learned a lot through going to Hanford and creating the video. I learned what it means to be able to connect with what I’m learning and accurately portray it with a historical perspective; I think that’s what Willemse and Hughes goal was coming into it. But with anything, there is always improvements to be made. If I were to do this type of project again, I would definitely think about my topic more before the trip and do a little more background research on it so I could be better prepared. It’s evident that genuinely knowing your topic before hand plays a large role in the quality of your script, questions, and the effectiveness of interviews and clips. Another thing I would definitely try to do is get as many clips on site as possible. They make the video so much more effective as it shows people we were actually there and we got to experience the things we’re talking about. Overall our video wasn’t perfect but I think my group has a lot to be proud of and we are only going to learn from our mistakes.