News
Students broadcast news each morning
Feb. 25, 2010
Students at Draper Middle School are working hard at putting the "local" into the local news.
Since January, a group of student volunteers have been working with Draper computer assistant Lorene Gallo to create Draper Middle School TV. The students gather at about 8:45 each morning to set up the cameras, lighting and sound equipment and to prepare the morning announcements for the day's broadcast. Most days the broadcast, which can be seen on TV screens through the school, includes the day's announcements and a weather forecast. Sometimes there are also special performances by students or appearances by teachers or administrators.
Draper Principal Debra Male says students and staff alike seem to really enjoy and appreciate the daily broadcasts.
"This is proving to be a great learning experience for all of the students involved and I think everyone is paying more attention to the daily announcements now," Male said. "We all know that television is a powerful communications tool and of course, the kids are really enjoying seeing the work that their peers are doing on the broadcast every day."
While the school has had the broadcast
equipment for years and has done character education broadcasts
throughout the building from time to time, Gallo said she really
wanted to start doing something on a daily basis that would give
students the opportunity to do a "real" news broadcast.
Because of this experience, DMS TV weatherman and eighth grader Tyler Ronan says he's pretty sure he wants to be on television when he grows up.
On a recent field trip to the WRGB studio in Niskayuna, Ronan got to chat with weatherman Neal Estano and learn a little bit about how these broadcasts are done in the "real world."
"His job is a lot harder than I expected," Ronan said. "Everything is operated by a computer and I didn't think that was the case."
Ronan said that since he started doing the DMS TV broadcasts he's constantly stopped in the hall by both teachers and students.
"People I don't even know say 'Hi Tyler'," he said, adding that he thinks the broadcasts have been so successful so far because kids like watching television. Rather than trying to talk over announcements that are being read over a loud speaker, he said students now ask each other to be quiet so they can see the broadcast.
Because of the success of DMS TV, Technology
Director Keith Rafaniello is currently working to bring similar
broadcasts to the other district schools.
"In school and in the real world, students need to know how to communicate and how to use technology," Rafaniello said. "By doing these broadcasts, students are learning both skills."
Rafaniello and Gallo are also working with the district's communications office to bring the daily broadcasts to the district's Web site so they can be seen outside of the school.
