Overview

◎Category：

Local Leaders

 

◎Description of "Our Community"：

Changhua County, situated in central Taiwan, during its early years was not only an agricultural center, but also home to many traditional industries, including the sock industry in Shetou. As time moved on, however, the sock industry began to fall into decline, and socks are no longer only worn to keep warm, but worn to appeal to aesthetic sensibilities. It was in the midst of this rising trend that the incorporation of socks into art in the form of products of cultural creative industry slowly grew to prominence, and though the actual progenitor of the first Sock Doll prototype is unknown, Ms. Doremi and Ms. Emily were the first to promote and teach how to make Sock Dolls in central Taiwan, by bringing together Changhua traditions and local industries to give birth to the new Sock Doll industry.

 

◎Summary of Our Project

This project is an introduction of Ms. Doremi Huang and Ms. Emily Yang of Changhua, the dynamic duo who played an indispensable role in the promotion of Sock Dolls in central Taiwan. These adorable Sock Dolls are already in themselves popular among adults and children alike, and with the innovative touches of Ms. Doremi and the stylized photographic profiling done for Sock Dolls by Ms. Emily, new vitality was infused into their Sock Dolls.

Since entering the field of cultural creative industry with their first published book on Sock Dolls in 2007, they have enriched the creation of Sock Dolls with greater diversity, accumulating a steady fan base and group of followers, but it is above all their unwavering dedication to their original intention of doing good by supporting non-profit and charitable causes that truly merits praise and respect. Though the two may appear dull and plain in comparison to celebrities constantly under the spotlight, they for us are extraordinary leader figures in our community, from whom much can be learned.

 

◎Our Computer/Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

Our school can connect to the Taiwan Academic Network through a optical fiber network, and the ration of internet connection is one hundred percent. Students can transfer learning materials via E-mail or Facebook when they were home.

 

◎Problems We Had to Overcome

Interviewing: Interviewing: Before, we had no experience in interviewing, so our teacher asked us to go through lots of data, draw up a map for our website, and then come up with interview questions. Though we had simulated the procedures for interviews numerous times with the help of our teacher, during the first actual interview we still made more than a few mistakes. It was only through learning from trial and error in the succeeding interviews that we were able to gradually perform better.

Computer skills: Computer skills: We are mostly fifth graders, and though at first upon participation in Cyberfair almost everyone could neither type fast enough nor skillfully operate necessary the required software programs, we were lucky to have Mr. Huang with us, who during noon breaks would teach us the necessary skills we lacked. Our typing speed also increased over course of our research project.

Curricular pressure: A good number of us have to go to cram school at night, and it’s usually already 10 o’clock when we actually do get home and can begin working on our Cyberfair project—it was a lot of stress to handle. Some who as a result performed poorly on midterm exams were consequently forced by their parents to withdraw from the project altogether, but for the rest of us who remained and managed to pull through, we learned over the course of this project how to make good use of time.

 

◎Our Project Sound Bite

After interviewing Ms. Doremi and Ms. Emily, we came to realize why the two Teachers were willing to sacrifice and devote themselves to helping the underprivileged, and were able to truly feel the joy of helping others, to appreciate it is indeed "more blessed to give than to take."
~Jeff