By Anna Gustafson
Winning the 2009 NBC Universal Digital Media Competition for a film on the endangered loggerhead sea turtle made a group of fifth-grade girls from Saint Mel School in Flushing ecstatic.
But it was not just the victory that made the prize so sweet — the girls and their teachers and parents said the students realized individual efforts can help to shape the world for the better.
“Doing this raised my awareness about how much we need to recycle,” said Isabelle Crombez, 11, of Flushing. “When you throw six-pack wrappers away, it can kill turtles and many things in the ocean. Now I’m making sure that I recycle.”
Isabelle was a member of a six-person team from Saint Mel that two weeks ago landed first place in NBC’s Universal Digital Media competition for their movie “The Life of Crush,” which detailed the story of an endangered loggerhead sea turtle. The girls entered the piece as part of the ThinkQuest NYC competition, an annual contest that pitted the girls’ movie against a couple of hundred videos made by students in fifth- through 12th grade.
The girls also won second place for their Web site, “The Amazing Story of Crush (An Endangered Loggerhead Sea Turtle),” which they also entered into the ThinkQuest NYC contest.
“We were really shocked that we won,” said Allison Galante, 11, of Flushing. “We had been really hoping we’d win because we worked really hard all year. We stayed in during lunchtime and after school.”
The team, which included students Alicia Badea, Elizabeth Sim, Anna Fitzpatrick and Mabil Velis, had poured countless number of hours into their research on the loggerhead turtles and creating the movie and Web site from October until around May. Many of the girls knew little to nothing about constructing a Web site, using research skills or even navigating the Internet, and Isabelle said the work made them fluent in the language of computers, which will help them tremendously as they continue their education.
“I was clueless as to how to use Flash, and I pretty much had no idea how to use the Internet except for going on about two Web sites,” Isabelle said. “It really helped me.”
The girls, coached by Saint Mel teachers Christina Cedrone and Julie Mansour, also made podcasts about the loggerheads and their research inspired them to help sponsor an “Endangered Day” at their school in February, which raised awareness about endangered species among the student body.
“For the girls, it wasn’t just about technology,” Cedrone said. “It was about working together as a team. Not seeing the lunch room for two months, it was all worth the effort.”
Allison and Isabelle said they hope their research will help to spread information to aid the endangered loggerhead turtle.
“Fishing can be really bad for the turtles,” Crombez said. “They can get really badly hurt, but there are nets you can use that loggerheads don’t get stuck in.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 174.
