MAVA Collogues,
Exciting news from MAVA member Taconic High School in Pittsfield. We thank Tammy Gage, Assistant Superintendent for College and Career Readiness, for sharing this with us.
David
These Taconic students are the lightning that comes before the ‘Thunder Report’
By Matt Martinez, The Berkshire Eagle & STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
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Video and Performing Arts students film the weekly "Thunder Report" on Thursday at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, with Matt Curtis, 17, left, and Brendan Bayles, 16, serving as the day’s news anchors.
PITTSFIELD — Grace Garinther stands in the center of the studio control room with a headset, counting down from five. Once she’s done, it’s showtime.
Garinther, a senior, is the director for the Taconic High School Thunder Report, a student-produced newscast made using top-of-the-line equipment to give the students real-world experience. Jamie Choquette, the teacher for the video and performing arts course, said the school uses the same production system as CNN International.
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Grace Garinther, 18, serves as the director for a filming of the weekly "Thunder Report." “It’s a big sense of pride every Friday watching it in our classrooms,” Garinther said.
Garinther moves down the script with expert timing, cueing up camera movements and video packages, including a segment where an anchor reads the week’s top headlines from The Berkshire Eagle. As the show’s director for the week, she calls the shots and decides when the show, recorded all in one take, is good to go.
<![if !vml]><![endif]>“They know what they’re doing, and they’re strong-willed about it,” said Jaime Choquette, the teacher for the video and performing arts course. “I love that.”
The room is dark, save for the blinking lights on the control board dancing in front of Brennan Smith, a senior who serves as the main tech director for the program. When the cameras switch and the pre-recorded packages appear on screen, he’s the one pulling the levers. He also edits some video packages before they appear on the program.
Meanwhile, Brendan Bayles, a sophomore, and Matt Curtis, a senior, sit behind a news desk hand-crafted by the high school’s carpentry students, reading the lead-ins to each section. Last week, the program aired stories about Spanish Book Club, upcoming MCAS testing and the Mr. Taconic pageant and talent show. Bayles produced the last one himself.
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Matt Curtis, 17, left, and Brendan Bayles, 16, anchor the weekly news cast that is produced, directed, and executed by students.
Almost invariably, the packages end with the phrase “Back to the studio!” That’s where the magic happens — the students decide for themselves what the program will be, how it’ll run, while Choquette gives gentle nudges on the best way to do it.
They learn from watching the pros and tailor the report to be their own, he said.
“They know what they’re doing, and they’re strong-willed about it,” Choquette said. “I love that.”
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Brodie Roberts, 16, serves as floor manager and teleprompter operator in the studio, holding up his fingers for a countdown during the filming of the "Thunder Report."
Coming up with that vision, week in and week out, gives the students a chance to express themselves too.
“It’s the ability to be creative and do what you want and put all of yourself into what you make in here,” Bayles said.
The Video and Performing Arts course at Taconic was added as a career and technical education course last year. Choquette said the class had five first-year students this year as an official CTE course; it is expected to have 20 first-year students in the upcoming school year.
The conversion to CTE paved the way for an investment of about $200,000 in equipment, Choquette said as a ballpark estimate. That includes field and studio cameras and a $30,000 “TriCaster” production system, all comparable to the gear available at a professional operation.
The studio also has a podcast setup, where students record audio clips that are available on Spotify, Castbox and streamed live on the WTBR Morning Drive. The Thunder Report is available on YouTube.
The students produce about 30 shows in a year that run anywhere from seven to 25 minutes, Choquette said. Mondays are for brainstorming video packages for the week, and the crew has to get their packages done by Thursday at 1 p.m. for production day.
“It’s mostly hands-on, which is why I love it so much,” Smith said.
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On Friday mornings at 7:30, Taconic students start their day with a screening of the Thunder Report; there’s even a clip of the Pledge of Allegiance to help get the day going.
Choquette said students learn the ropes on how to shoot their packages, use the tech panel in the control room and perform various roles in production.
Some get to showcase their talents in front of the camera; others focus their talents behind it.
“They try everything, but then they’ll often have a specialty,” Choquette said.
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For the students, there’s no shortage of hats to wear; Smith said the technical aspect of the course is what he finds most rewarding. He’s interested in pursuing photography and said that shooting packages for the program has helped him learn how to “keep calm and focus on what (I’m) framing.”
Bayles, a sophomore, has found himself getting creative in ways he didn’t expect. He’s the main scriptwriter for almost all of the news packages that run as part of the program, but he’s also a wizard with graphics and visual editing.
It’s gotten to the point where Choquette is going to let Bayles teach a class on Adobe AfterEffects, after he produced some exceptional graphics using the program. His knowledge of the program doesn’t come from the class — but illustrates how the students can put their own personal touches on the curriculum.
“YouTube’s the greatest place to learn anything, you know?” Bayles said with a smile, when asked where he learned to make the graphics.
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Taconic High School uses the same production system as CNN International.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
Bayles said one of his main takeaways from the course was effectively working as a team with his fellow students.
And Garinther, as the show’s director, said she’s learned how to work under pressure and roll with the punches during her time in the big seat. Plus, it’s fun to see the finished product every week, she said.
“It’s a big sense of pride every Friday watching it in our classrooms,” she said.
Matt Martinez can be reached at mmartinez.
News Reporter
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
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