Coalbanks Elementary School’s Channel 17 News Team has been posting its very own news cast over the last few years.
Grade One Spanish teacher Jared Hunt has been a part of the Coalbanks News Club for the past three years and wanted to shine a light on how talented, thoughtful and amazing the school’s students are. “I thought of different ways of doing that and came up with the idea of starting a news club and an opportunity for students to share their talents with our student body and community.”
It was a little rocky at the beginning, Hunt explains, because the club didn’t have all the tools and technology needed to produce and post a news cast. “When I started it, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Thanks to Principal Gentile, he was able to get us some nice microphones, so our sound quality was nice. Sound was important. We were able to get a green screen because part of our news was going to take us around the world, so we needed that green screen to put us in these places around the world we were talking about and reporting on.”
The team also obtained a podcaster, which enabled students to record episodes of the program.
“It was a way to shine a spotlight on these amazing kids in our school,” notes Hunt.
Hunt adds the club started with just students from class, but soon became a school-wide accessible club. “We opened it up to everyone who was interested.”
According to Hunt, a lot of students wanted to be journalists, some wanted to be artists behind the scenes and writers and videographers. “Based on what the kids wanted to do and their interests, I assigned them their roles.”
The episodes are available on the school’s website and it’s password protected, says Hunt. “We want to be sure we’re taking care of the students and protecting the students. Everyone who attends school may access the episodes via password through a link on our website.”
Hunt says the club has been a great opportunity for students. “I’ve seen so much growth with the kids with their reading and reading with expression.”
One of the club’s news anchors, Grade Five student Macie Maret says, the club is amazing and “super fun.”
“It’s really helped me get better at reading. It’s been a great experience,” Macie adds. “I really like filming, talking and being silly.”
Another news anchor, Grade Five student Sydney Martindale says, it’s really fun to be in the news club. “You get to share all your ideas you have.”
Sydney’s favourite part of being in the club is filming.
Considering how hard it is to get in front of a camera or to speak in a microphone and have people watch, it’s amazing how confident students in the club have become, Hunt explains.
“I’ve seen so much growth in these kids, self-esteem and coming into their own and just being so confident. I’m just so proud of them and what they’ve been able to do over these last few years.”
According to Hunt, there are currently over 30 members of the news club. “We started with 180. As soon as the kids realized it was a lot of hard work, the group kind of shrunk. We have about 30 strong right now actively participating in the club.”
(Photo by Stan Ashbee)
