Gathering Your Tools

Materials:

• 3 matching sport jackets, slacks, and ties for the interviewers
• 1 white dress shirt for Burton
• 2 white blouses for Pam and Arminda
• 3 yellow legal pads and black felt pens

Notes:

We’ll need our interviewers to dress alike to connect the video visually.

The legal pads will contain the interview questions to prompt the interviewers. They can also be used to note correct spellings of names and terms.

Equipment:

• 3 portable video cameras
• 3 voice recorders
• 1 phone recorder
• 2 computers
• storyboarding software
• video editing software
• Web design software
• video projector

Notes:

For this project we can use smart phones with cameras to record the video and audio.

We’ll storyboard with an online app. Leif’s home computer has video editing software installed. Felix says he can use the school computer lab for the Web part. We can connect the school video projector to my tablet computer for the live presentation.

Resources:

• Internet reports of veteran rehabilitation
• Regional veterans’ hospital
• Local National Guard Armory staff
• Local VFW organization
• Local military recruiting offices
• Contact pages on state representatives’ Web sites

Notes:

Our goal is to present a well-rounded report on both successes and problems with the current system. We need to accurately represent a multitude of viewpoints. (Maybe we could do a few “common person” interviews downtown to see how aware citizens are of the situation.)

Information:

• What is the standard process for evaluating veterans after combat duty?
• What resources are available for veterans who need rehabilitation?
• What appeal process exists for veterans who believe they need further help?
• What successes and problems do veterans and caregivers identify?

Notes:

We’ll focus on the veterans’ and caregivers’ answers to these questions. If possible, we’ll also arrange an interview with a legislator to learn what the government has to say about homeless vets.