Media Design & Communications Project Connects VLO Students

Hundreds of K-2 virtual learners are having some fall and winter fun, thanks to some Hopewell and Liberty junior high VLO students. Students in Moriah Walker’s Media Design & Communications class recently took on a project to create activity books full of coloring pages, word searches and math puzzles for younger VLO students at Hopewell and Wyandot early childhood schools.

The project helped build community among Walker’s students, while creating connections between the younger and older VLO students.

“For both sets of students, having a connection through a project like this reminds them that even though they are in different schools, grades, and working from home, they are still part of the same district and there are other students thinking about them,” said Walker. “I had heard from my VLO students that they felt disconnected, and this project allowed them to work cooperatively together, and to have a goal in mind for someone else.” She added, “Having an authentic audience for a project creates natural engagement for students.”

It all started when Walker mentioned creating coloring pages for younger students during a Zoom session with her VLO students. Her students were immediately excited about the project, wanting to expand the idea to make an activity book. Part of the class curriculum is about graphic design, so the project was a perfect fit.

The students planned the types of pages, and then loaded them into slides so that the class could provide feedback and make revisions. “I was surprised at how excited they were to be creating something that they knew someone else would be using,” said Walker. “They were very creative and thoughtful about how difficult the activities should be, and were cognizant of having a good mix of activities as well.” Once the class finalized the content, the booklets were copied, assembled, and delivered to the early childhood schools for distribution to VLO students.

The students loved having an opportunity to reach out to the younger students because they know how hard it is to not be in school right now.

“I really enjoyed doing this project!," said Liberty Junior seventh-grader Owen Knapp. “I thought it was good for the younger kids in VLO who don't get to see a lot of their friends. I would love to do it again in the future.”

Classmate Ashley Marion added, “I love the activity book. I think it is a great idea to show love to the people around us and spread some joy.”

Fellow Liberty Junior student Jasmeen Kaur helped create the booklet, but also had the unique opportunity to see it being used as well. “I really enjoyed making the activity book. My sister is in kindergarten and she got our activity book and she really loved it.”