Public School Educator: FACT-TV Student Journalism (1996-2001)

After experimenting with student-created PSAs/journalism teams with my 6th grade students, I was asked to put together the proposal as part of our district Magnet Program application to make our school into a video-journalism-based school or FACT – Furgeson Academy of Communications and Technology. I then spent the next three-years implementing the grant. The following video is a Behind-the-Scenes look at the video journalism program that I created using 5th grade reporters/editors and 6th grade news-anchors and studio personnel, followed by an example of one of our later news shows.

Behind the Scenes and FACT TV for April 11, 2001

BENJAMIN’S PICTUREBOOK:

The following video is based on my father’s memories spending his afternoons with his “abuelita” (grandmother) as a kindergartner. This animation was created during a summer school program with drawings by 1st & 2nd graders and with narration read by 2nd graders.

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD – MUSIC VIDEO:

“Welcome 2 the Real World” was a music video inspired by the 80s Jane Child song. My sixth grade students wrote a paragraph about what the idea “the Real World” means to their parents and I recorded them reading their essays and added that to footage I’d shot in Downtown Long Beach.