“Machinto” is a Japanese word that translates to “a little bit more.” And it’s also the name of an intercultural learning project that inspired three WHS students to create a Peace Doves campaign, which brought a little more peace, hope, and love to local community members this winter.
Seniors Brooks Butler and Trevor Billingsley and Junior Caroline Diels invited the entire student body to decorate paper doves with encouraging messages for our first responders, for community members lacking shelter and stability in their lives, and for residents of Cape May.
Brooks Butler coordinated delivery of the doves. “Our dove project brought so many smiles and happiness,” said Brooks. “The things the homeless shared with us were inspiring but also sad to hear. I’ll never forget the smiles on the faces of the people we brought the doves to, thanks to the students at Wilmington High school. Our goal is to inform people not only of the challenges we deal with here, but all around the world.”
WHS teacher Karen Clarke enrolled her Spanish classes in the Machinto Project to provide authentic, intercultural project-based learning opportunities for students.
Students developed Spanish skills and intercultural understanding through multi-media exchanges with students in Argentina and Japan. Students read books (translated into Spanish and English) written by survivors of WWII’s Hiroshima bombing, learned about the migration of Japanese to South America, and created projects to share messages of peace.
Projects completed by our first-year Spanish students included a peace pole, poetry, song lyrics, a painting, and posters.
Students decided where and with whom to share their messages, and many chose to present them, alongside the artwork completed by Argentina’s students and poetry completed by Japan’s students, on a mural on campus, giving staff and peers the opportunity to reflect on the project’s themes.
