Class Produces News Shows
Students Try Their Hand At Broadcast TV
Noemi Delatorre, a Har-Ber High School student, from left around video camera, Springdale High School student Lane McCall and Har-Ber High School student Nyzzea Presas shoot video of voters Thursday at Parsons Stadium where early voting is going on. The students are part of the School District’s television broadcasting class is launching a twice-per-month television show called “Springdale Today” and debuts tonight.
Friday, November 2, 2012
SPRINGDALE — The School District’s new television broadcasting class is set to launch two programs this month for area viewers.
“Springdale Today,” a half-hour program, will debut on Springdale Public Schools Television at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The 30-minute show is intended to showcase good things happening in the district. The plan is to produce two episodes of the show each month.
At A Glance
‘Springdale Today’
The first episode of the new show won’t be televised until Wednesday, but it’s available now on YouTube. Search for “Springdale Today Episode 1.”
Highlights of the show include segments on the communications department, Sonora Elementary School’s focus on the arts and the opening of Sonora Middle School. There are also interviews with Superintendent Jim Rollins and Al Lopez, community liaison.
Source: Staff Report
Another news show, “Springdale District News,” will be produced weekly. It is set to debut Nov. 14.
Both shows will be seen on Cox Cable channel 219 or AT&T U-verse channel 99.
The television broadcasting class has 17 students who come from both high schools. They meet at the district’s communications center on Emma Avenue, in the building that formerly housed Jones TV.
Trent Jones, the district’s multimedia coordinator, teaches the class. He said he expects the class eventually will grow to 40 students.
“I discovered there’s a large demand for this field, and if you coordinated and structured a department correctly, students could do the work and benefit themselves,” Jones said.
On Thursday, the students were working on the debut episode of “Springdale District News.”
Drew Jenkins, a Har-Ber High School senior, sat in front of a computer screen editing video footage she had shot earlier this week for a story about early voting.
“I think it will be the top story,” said Jenkins, who plans to major in broadcast journalism in college.
Nearby, Sabrina Terrell, a Springdale High School senior and the show’s head producer, pored over a notebook reviewing subject matter for the first show.
Terrell said she hopes to major in communications in college and, someday, be a television producer or anchor. Being a part of this class has taught her leadership skills, she said.
Meanwhile, a crew of three students ventured out to the early voting site at Parsons Stadium, where they interviewed voters and election officials on camera.
Nyzzea Presas, one of those three students, said she was attracted to the class because of her interest in movie-making and broadcast news.
“I’ve learned how to use new software and cameras, and how to make (videos) more appealing to the audience,” Presas said.
The facility at the communications office features a studio and production room. Jones said there are at least 30 different kinds of jobs students could learn from the facility.
The class is run like a business, Jones said, adding even if they never work with video again, students will learn valuable lessons.
“They learn how to work with professionals, how to do an interview, how to deal with stress,” he said. “You can’t tell me this field doesn’t have innumerable positives for the kids.”