For the last project in DED318, we were assigned the task of recording and sharing stories from Kansas for the non profit project, Celebrate Kansas Voices. This project was started in 2010 after the successful running of the Celebrate Oklahoma Voices project. Both projects are run by the non profit Story Chasers Inc. company. The goal of this project is to both encourage and empower learners to take part in recording and sharing oral histories of their state. The most impactful part of this project, for me, has been knowing that the goal is not to spread the biggest and most famous stories, but rather all the stories of a state. Everyone knows Eisenhower lived here and made the first highway here, but who knows about the farmer in western Kansas who saved a town in the depression or the woman who rescued works of art from a town hall under attack? These stories matter just as much as the famous stories, and now they will have a chance at surviving through time too.
I chose to share the story of the Mahaffie Farmstead because of its historical significance, its modern purpose as a center for learning, and the fond memories I have from touring the Farmstead as a young student myself. I truly feel that Mahaffie is an important piece of Kansas history, one that deserves to be chronicled and shared with all who wish to learn a little more about our great state of Kansas. In creating this project, I used a couple of/few apps that made the process run much more smoothly. The central app I used was iMovie of course to hold everything together and make my research into a more aesthetically pleasing presentation. I also utilized the PicCollage app to add text to photos and to make sure everything would look its best for the video. Finally, I used the YouTube capture app to upload my completed video so that it could be easily shared with the project and saved for whenever there may be updates needed.