David,
Too bad you don’t have more time. I had the opportunity to make a presentation
at my daughter’s parochial school on photography in the “olden days.” The
students were fascinated with film photography. I brought in cameras, rolls of
35mm film, slides, negatives, prints, etc.
Their world is so digital and devoid of actual “things” that you can touch,
they were fascinated. The kids took turns looking at slides in a small viewer I
brought. I even brought in a decrepit GAF Viewmaster with wheels of Niagara
Falls, Grand Canyon, NYC, winter in Montréal, Disneyland, etc.
I brought in a half dozen Fuji single-use party cameras and let them go wild
taking snaps. I took the cameras, broke out the cassettes and sent everything
off for developing and printing. About 2 weeks later my wife, who is on the
school board, brought everything in and distributed the prints. It was a real
hit.
Not something you’ve been asked to do, but consider it for a future exercise.
I’ve found the students will respond if you don’t talk down to them or
infantalise them. Remember, just two or three generations ago children as young
as 7 or 8 were doing chores and helping out the family with things that
teenagers today eschew and parents believe are beyond them. (When I was 8 back
in the 60’s, I was walking to the bakery and grocery store with a handwritten
list buying things for my family—totally unaccompanied by any adult and
crossing busy streets without incident.)
Good luck!
Jeff
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