YOUTH : SANTA ANA : District Wants Kids to Make a Difference

In an effort to keep students in school and out of gangs, the Santa Ana Unified School District will offer a summer program designed to improve study habits and self-esteem.

“Kids Making a Difference,” a five-week program at Willard Intermediate School, will encourage eighth-grade students to use video cameras and journalism skills to explore different facets of life in Orange County, said Joe Tafoya, assistant superintendent of secondary education for the district.

By producing their own video news stories, Tafoya said, students will highlight what they learn during field trips and interviews of community members.

About 35 students will participate in the program, whose excursions might include visits to local tide pools, museums and theatrical events. The $32,000 program is funded mostly by a federal grant.

The program, which is now in its second year, is successful, Tafoya said, because it does not merely repeat lessons students were taught during the school year.

“The basic thing is that it tries a different approach. A lot of programs are based on what students have been doing the whole year. This is aimed at making a final product to show what they’ve accomplished during the class.”

Students will track their own progress by maintaining a scrapbook which will include their short-term and long-term goals.

By focusing on journalism techniques, Tafoya said, students must write, organize notes, do interviews and use other language skills, as well as cooperate with their peers to complete their assignments.