FALMOUTH — Two fifth-graders at Falmouth Elementary School plan to use a variety of social media platforms to give students a voice and to tell the story of the school in a positive way.

The project, called The Story of FES, has the full support of school administrators and multimedia teacher Billy Corcoran.

“Everyone’s story matters,” Corcoran said this week. “Stories transcend stereotypes, and the more diverse stories we hear, the more we learn about each other. We want to hear unique stories from anyone who wants to contribute because stories matter.”

He said students Anna Goodman and Anaia Roy “are facilitating a space for the entire school to contribute stories that they want to tell.”

Corcoran said the two girls will interview various people in the building, from fellow students to teachers to staff, and put short clips up on the school’s webpage, as well as on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Goodman and Roy said they are hoping to capture stories using a variety of formats – for example, live classroom views and student-created content – to show the perspectives of kids and how they think and see the world.

Most importantly, the girls said, tech can be a great way to express themselves in a positive way, that’s not about how they look or how many likes they get.

“Video is the medium of this generation,” Corcoran said. “Video (can be a) complex form of communication that engages students to think deeply about communication, language-based or otherwise.”

“We live in a world where the entire human experience is at our fingertips … and we can communicate with multiple communities of people through multiple channels,” he said.

“What I’m most excited about is that this will help model to all students how we can use social media productively to make a positive impact on our online communities. This is a platform to have their voices heard (and it also) gives them a platform to understand each other.”

Assistant Principal Steve Chabot said administrators at Falmouth Elementary were talking over summer vacation about involving kids more in producing the school’s social media content. 

“Our mission at the Falmouth Schools is all about kids having ownership and investment in their own learning, so anything real-world, anything creative, is something we want to support,” he said.

What’s great is “the kids are engaged and excited about this project and it creates a product the whole learning community can access and enjoy.”

Corcoran teaches a multimedia class twice a week to the school’s fifth-graders and said “the purpose of the course is to connect technology to a passion or interest and then support students in designing a (project) utilizing technology.”

Kate Irish Collins can be reached at 710-2336 or kcollins@theforecaster.net. Follow Kate on Twitter: @KIrishCollins.

Anna Goodman, left, and Anaia Roy, fifth-graders at Falmouth Elementary School, want to use social media to allow students and others at the school to tell their stories and share their voices.