Broadcasting a Middle School Success Story
At a Massachusetts middle school, a television technology program has become an on-air success thanks to the persistence of the teacher whose dream it was to have a TV studio for his students.
After many years of teaching English, Jim O?Hearn began a new program at the middle school where he taught. Now he is the director of the TV studio for the East Longmeadow Public Schools, which means he is now a career and technical educator. It is a transition that has renewed his energy toward teaching and has brought a new and exciting program to his school and to its students.
His background in teaching a core academic subject helps him see how his TV technology course encourages students to use math and writing skills, but he has also learned what veterans of career and technical education know. This is not a field filled with unmotivated, underachieving students.
"My consciousness has been raised by seeing what kind of kids take to the TV studio," says O?Hearn.
As a long-time middle school teacher, O?Hearn also has an appreciation for the special qualities of students that age and understands the importance of this transitional time in their lives. That?s another reason he wanted to give them the opportunity of having a TV technology program.
"This is not just a special subject," explains O?Hearn. "this is a career track."
It gives his young students a chance to explore what is involved in the field, which he feels has something for almost everyone. "It?s great for 12- and 13-year-olds to see what?s in TV for them?whether it?s the performance aspect, the technology, the production or the creativity."
As for finding something they might like?says O?Hearn, "What?s not to like about being sent around the world by National Geographic or going to sports events and doing graphics for ESPN."
The school where O?Hearn teaches, Birchland Park Middle School, is only three years into a new building, which has its advantages. Because it is relatively new, there is tech ed, which O?Hearn describes as a multi-media exploratory course showing the interaction of technology and daily lives, including robots and lasers. There are traditional career tech courses such as family and consumer sciences education as well. And, of course, there is the TV studio.
"Very few middle schools have the kind of TV studio that we have," remarks O?Hearn. "Credit the town of East Longmeadow with foresight and a willingness to support its schools. And the school administration has been very supportive."
The very well equipped studio consists of eight rooms in the studio suite and includes a classroom in which students construct all of the materials used in television production. There are three computers for creating graphics.
Students generally work in teams of two or three?but most often two in deference to the group dynamics that often occur among students of this age group. Working as a team means, "There are two people to come up with ideas during brainstorming and to share the work," says O?Hearn.
During the 10-week marking period, O?Hearn explains, the idea is that, "They create something that is sufficiently exciting to them that they?re inspired by their own work and want to find new video challenges."
The work the students do in the TV studio is not done in an academic void, however?far from it, in fact. In addition to acquiring technical skills on the computer, the students in the TV studio have to use calculations when they format stills to the aspect ratio of television, they have to write the scripts for the audio portions, and they employ creativity.
O?Hearn sees it as a really great benefit in the "big picture of education," because, he says, "It is a rare opportunity to synthesize all kinds of educational skills in something the students enjoy doing."
The Birchland Park Middle School students in the TV technology program have also integrated history lessons into their work. Their 7:30 a.m. broadcast to the school includes a 10-minute studio story shot by students. These stories may publicize people and events around the building. Broadcasts have included "A Day in the Life of the Cafeteria Workers," and they?re working on "A Day in the Life of the Principal." There are also films of school clubs and other short film stories.
The morning broadcasts include a live in-studio show with anchors. Two days of the week the anchors are students; two days they are teachers; and one day a principal or assistant principal fills the duties.
Four or five times a year, O?Hearn and his TV studio students take their show on the road to share their program with others. Here?s where the history lessons come in. The students have done a colonial newscast set in 1775. They dressed up in colonial attire, used names from the time period, and their stories in that show were related to events that occurred in colonial times. They have also done a medieval-times newscast, and a newscast set in 2025. For that one, O?Hearn asked his students to take a look at the future when, "Life is going to be unbelievable."
Among the creative projects that have come from the middle school?s TV studio is an eight-minute video featuring the song "What the World Needs Now" along with events of the 60s. Martin Luther King Jr.?s "I Have a Dream" speech and reports of the assassination of John F. Kennedy are woven into this tapestry of song and video.
They have performed at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference in Nashua, N.H., and for seven years have presented at the New England League of Middle Schools Conference.
It?s logistically complicated to do the road shows because it requires two teachers with SUVs to haul six to 12 kids plus all kinds of equipment. By the end of the year, they have so many students that an additional rented van is required. But sharing a great program such as this is good for students and teachers alike.
Other teachers attending the conferences are often inspired to begin TV technology programs at their own schools, and they may call O?Hearn and ask to come to Birchland Park to watch his students in action. At the road shows, teachers can look over the shoulders of the students as they work on their projects, and if they visit the school, they will get to see the studio in operation on a typical day. O?Hearn?s program provides an example they can follow, which is a luxury he didn?t have himself.
"There was no precedent," notes O?Hearn. "There was no middle school textbook on TV technology." So he had to come up with his own material. He now has developed about 150 pages to use in teaching the course.
Getting the studio itself started was no simple task either. Even though it had been a long-time dream of O?Hearn?s, and he had even attempted it on a small scale with a miniature, cobbled-together version in the back of his English classroom, it wasn?t until he was offered a new position as practical arts teacher that he saw the beginnings of a true TV studio. With the new position, he was promised $10,000 in Technology Bond Bill seed money for the project. Although the Technology Bond Bill turned out not to cover the television equipment he would need, O?Hearn noted in an article he wrote for The JOURNAL of the New England League of Middle Schools that, "Fortunately, our administration kept its promise to provide seed money anyway. Another $17,000 was raised from businesses, civic organizations and grant opportunities."
Equipment that the Birchland Park TV studio began with included a console made up of two video tape recorders, two television cameras, an AV mixer, an audio mixer, four color monitors, a studio monitor, a cassette deck, a compact disc player and a character generator; an assemble edit station consisting of two color monitors, two video tape recorders and an edit controller; and a non-linear editing station that included three color monitors, three video tape recorders and a computer with editing software.
The new TV studio began operation in what had previously been a family and consumer sciences education classroom, so cabinets and sinks had to be removed, and a ten-foot-long piece of countertop was installed as the studio?s console.
O?Hearn spent the summer that the new studio was installed teaching himself how the equipment worked so that he would be able to teach his students when the new school year?and the new television technology program?began in the fall.
By the time the East Longmeadow school district had decided to construct a new middle school, the Birchland Park TV studio had been buzzing for three years and the television technology program had a proven record of success. That?s why the new school includes the impressive eight-room studio suite that currently houses the TV studio. And now most of the equipment is digital?although still with the capability to play back and record in analog.
The TV studio is a great way to bring members of the school community together. With the mobile studio, O?Hearn and his students can do remote broadcasts from anywhere in the building. They can also add their own touches to a broadcast for showing later?as they do with the eighth grade talent show. The talent show, complete with video enhancements and effects, is shown on the last day of school?a great sendoff for the eighth graders who will be going on to high school the next year.
"Sometimes we just have fun," says O?Hearn. "The faculty/student basketball game is always a big deal." It includes polite trash talking on the morning show between students and faculty, but it is a fundraiser for charity and is all done in the spirit of fun for a good cause.
O?Hearn is finding himself re-energized as a teacher by the effort his students devote to these projects. He admits he is usually one of the first to arrive at school?usually by 6:00 a.m.?and is often one of the last to leave. But then, his students that comprise the "TV Studio Staff" also come early and stay late to be a part of the TV studio. He estimates that every young person in this core group of six to 12 dedicated learners invests an average of 400 hours each year into the TV studio.
These young people are invited to join the staff as a result of the motivation and work ethic they demonstrated in the normal TV production course. They are responsible for the morning announcement show. They are the "road show" performers. And they provide more than 20 video-related services to the school. Not only are they in school early every day, but they also continue production work during a "working lunch" and dedicate at least two afternoons a week after school to the studio. It?s a remarkable commitment for a middle-school student.
And even though they may not have the opportunity to participate in a high school television technology program, that hasn?t stopped some students from going on to study it in college. That?s how strong the influence of the Birchland Park Middle School program remains in their lives.
Seeing how important the TV studio has been to the students?and all of the approximately 1,000 people at his school?is what keeps O?Hearn so invested in the program. "This sort of thing inspires me," says O?Hearn. "Clearly this is something kids love. It?s a wonderful opportunity, and they?ve made it a part of their lives."
