Just For TV Teachers

School is back in session and that means high school football takes center stage on Friday nights. Too bad, because in our town, that often means mediocrity gets the spotlight.

We have five public high schools in Springfield, MO. In years past, we have had our success stories. Some excellent teams have put together great seasons, but we have not had a state champion yet in the sport that dominates the headlines every September, October and November. And lately, it’s been ugly.

Last night, city teams went 0-5. That’s actually nothing new. Our schools have a lot of trouble competing against smaller schools, or similar-sized schools that seem to have better participation, and tradition, than we have.

Back to last night. Springfield was outscored 117-45. Central, our “IB” school where they say they can’t muster a strong enough team to compete against even the other city schools, played Warsaw High School, with an enrollment of 400. Central has over 1,500. Result: Warsaw 13, Central 12.

Hillcrest lost 17-6 to a team we scored over 40 points against last year. Parkview, which has had a terrible run the last decade, was shutout 30-0. Glendale lost by 28. Kickapoo was close, but no cigar, in a two-point loss at home.

Here is the thing with football. It costs a lot of money. It brings in a lot of money. It involves a LOT of kids. Think team, band, cheerleaders, pep squads, dance teams, and so on. It is the ultimate squeaky wheel. A lot of people have an investment in the sport.

Another thing we TV teachers know. Football is one of the absolute best sports to cover. So many great visuals, so much wonderful sound, so much emotion. I just wonder if we actually “cover” our football teams like we cover other news topics. I mean, that is what a football game is. It’s a news event. People come together, things happen, and some go home happy, some go home disappointed. Money is involved, taxpayers’ money. The games bring in money, but it still takes our tax dollars to turn on the “Friday Night Lights.”

From what I have observed, high school TV shows rarely scratch beneath the surface of the game being covered. We get caught up in the action, the emotion, the school pride, and avoid practicing “journalism” at any cost. When is the last time our kids asked tough, but fair questions about the team, or the game? It almost never happens.

While we preach to our kids the importance of objectivity in journalism, where does objective news coverage go when it comes to the school football team? How long can losing seasons and poor participation continue to be ignored by the school NEWScast? Is your district pouring money into football when it may involve only 30 or 35 players, while it ignores classrooms with outdated technology, leaky roofs, a textbook shortage, or a library in need of a serious update? Those things impact your entire student body every day, not just on Friday night.

I challenge you, this fall, to teach your kids to cover football, and all sports, like you would cover anything else. Avoid tip-toeing around issues that deserve to be examined, questions that need to be asked.

If your school journalists continue to ignore serious issues related to sports in general, they might as well wear team jerseys when they anchor your show.

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I got such a nice response a few months ago when I posted a “Q and A” with former HTVer Ashley Reynolds, now a professional TV reporter in Kentucky, that I thought I’d tap into my alumni network once again.

This time I visited with Grant Reed, a 2007 grad who is now working on a degree in film at Chapman University in southern California. Grant was the News Director of “HTV Magazine” his senior year, and won several national honors for his broadcast journalism efforts. But now he is pursuing his passion, which is making movies. I wanted to check in with him about the film track he has chosen, and pick his brain a bit. So read on and learn from someone not that far removed from his high school broadcasting experience:

You are attending Chapman University in the southern California. That seems like a huge leap from Springfield, MO. How did you decide to go there, and how has it worked out so far?

Deciding to go to school in California was a very big decision, but it felt like the right one (and still does). I had an interest in film ever since I was little and created shorts with my grandmother’s videocamera. You know, the one with the tapes that fit into a specialized VHS tape. So my interest had been growing for a long time. By the end of my first year on the staff of HTV, I knew that I wanted to study film. When I began researching schools, and asking around for advice from people in the field, the big topic that kept coming up was “connections.” In the film industry, the pay scale isn’t based on how many years of school you’ve had. You get a job if you have experience and you’re known to be reliable, and you need people who can verify that. I knew that if I stayed in Missouri, or the midwest, for that matter, that I would be at a disadvantage if I decided to move to LA at a later date. So I began researching film schools in California. I was attracted to Chapman because you start the major as a freshman, unlike many of the other programs, including those at UCLA and USC. I visited the campus while on a trip to the STN Convention, and I fell in love with the campus. The school is small, and the surrounding area is fairly quiet, which provided a smoother transition from Springfield. I’ve had a great time so far, and I’m very happy I made the decision I did.

You just directed a student film, “Yes Man.” What were some of the obstacles you didn’t anticipate, or any surprises along the way as you finished the project?

The biggest issue: money. Films are not cheap. I’m very grateful to have very supportive parents who believe in what I’m trying to do. My film was done for a class called Advanced Production, which is biggest production class you take before your thesis. My film was only 10 minutes, but it took three days to shoot. I had to feed my crew all three days, I had SAG actors, so I had to pay for SAG insurance, two of the locations where we shot wouldn’t allow us to plug anything into their outlets, so we had to rent a generator. We also rented a lot of extra equipment. The school provides a camera and some minimal equipment, which is very helpful, but a lot of times it isn’t enough. We also shot on film, so there were processing fees, costs for transferring the footage, extra. There are a lot of small things that add up. But if you’re satisfied with the end results (as I was), then that struggle is justified.

You were a busy broadcast student in high school, shooting, editing, and leading a very successful news staff. What lessons from your broadcast journalism experience have helped you in your work as a film director/student?

Although broadcast journalism and narrative film are two very distinct mediums, both rely on telling a powerful story. Working on HTV, I learned how to create a compelling story out of interviews and B-roll. With film, you’re creating the story ahead of time, and planning everything in advance. But broadcast journalism gave me a great advantage in knowing what will be effective for the audience. And one of the rules that made me hate Coach so many times was “Kill the puppies,” and it is also one of the rules that has helped me tremendously in film school. For my Advanced Production, there was a 10 minute limit for the screening. Our first cut was 13 minutes. I ended up cutting out an entire scene, and cut out enormous portions of others. And it ended up being a better story because of it. There was no excess. I included what was needed for emotion of the story, and cut out the rest. And in world of films where studios rule, no one is going to say, “I liked it, but I wish the movie was a little longer.” You’re always going to be asked to make cuts. So, as much as it hurts to “kill the puppies”, it is ultimately for the better.

A lot of high school students are interested in film, but may have limited opportunities to get involved. Any suggestions for them as they consider movie-making as a career?

The great thing about today is that anyone can be a producer. With sites like Youtube and Vimeo, and the low cost of digital cameras, filmmaking is no longer restricted to those with large budgets. Don’t wait to go to film school. I surely didn’t. I was creating music videos and participating in short film contests like the local SATO48 here in Springfield, and that experience has been very valuable. There was almost no crew, just me, a camera, some co-writers, and a few actors. And that was all we needed.

Finally, who are the filmmakers you look up to, and how important is it for young directors to study the work of others?

My favorite filmmaker would have to be Paul Thomas Anderson, director of “There Will Be Blood”, “Boogie Nights”, “Magnolia”, and “Punch Drunk Love.” All of his films are focused on characters, and telling their stories. Unlike many films today, he doesn’t rely on action sequences or gimmicks to keep the audience’s attention. His great strength is in making the audience care for these (sometimes selfish and outrageous) characters, and I greatly admire him for that. When it comes to a film that most represents my style of filmmaking, I would have to choose “Election” directed by Alexander Payne. That film is brilliant. It takes the simple premise of a high school election, and turns it into a scathing satire with a sharp script, hilarious but believable performances, and a fast pace that keeps the audience invested. I think humor is a great medium for the discussion of serious issues, and that has become my goal as a filmmaker: to entertain the audience without that entertainment being mindless, as much of it is today (we have Michael Bay and reality TV to blame for that).

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Okay, one of my students hassled me a couple of weeks ago about my recent complaints regarding her blog. I kind of criticized her lack of “voice” and “honesty” in her latest post.

So we bickered back and forth, and finally I told her I would do a blog soon that would provide my reader(s) with more details about me. Kind of a put-up-or-shut-up thing. So this is it, my true confessions blog. Things you may not know about me. Brace yourself.

*I do not go to movies. Modern movies almost always disappoint me. I see one a year, maybe.

*I do not read the newspaper anymore. Our local paper is now just a shadow of its former self. I check it out online maybe twice a week. Maybe.

*Regarding local news, I am tired of the young reporters they bring in from other places who know nothing about this town or the Ozarks.

*I never watch network news unless I know Les Rose or Steve Hartman have something coming up on CBS. I do like “Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood. I DVR it now and then, but it is a little artsy for me at times. I am not artsy.

*You could not pay me to watch CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News. And PBS? Not my cup of tea, but I admire the effort. I tried to watch Ken Burns’ “Baseball” and “Civil War,” but got bored after a while.

*He’s obnoxious, and often childish and crude, but I do listen to Imus in the Morning almost everyday.

*Jim Rome cracks me up, and is one of the better interviewers on the radio. I listen to his show when I can.

*I hate beets and broccoli. I can stand broccoli if it is smothered with melted cheese. I also don’t like most fruits.

*TV shows I never watch: Lost, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy. TV shows I always watch: Friday Night Lights, 24, House.

*I do not like animated movies. Never seen: Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Up, Toy Story, WALL ‘E’, The Lion King, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, etc.

*Student and faculty IDs are a waste of money.

*I hate politics and can barely make myself vote. I skip some elections.

*As I get older, I get less and less excited about broadcast contests and awards, and more excited about just doing good work. We need to be better in May than we were in September. That is pretty important. Contests are often about the teacher’s ego, not the kids.

*I think young teachers are probably better than we veterans give them credit for, but experience does bring wisdom, which is something the 20-somethings should keep in mind.

*I feel like we have turned the presidency into the office our best and brightest will never seek.

*I don’t drink, and I do think it’s probably wrong. But I don’t hold it against those who do partake. Just don’t hold it against me that I don’t.

*People who smoke should stop. They are dying a little every time they light up. But I do realize it is one of the hardest habits to break, and I really admire those who have quit.

*People blame the media too much. Really, you don’t have to watch it, listen to it, or read it.

*The far right and the far left are both wrong. Most of the time, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It always has been.

*Cars are a necessary evil. I know little about them, and care little about how they work. Just get me there and back in one piece.

*Simon Cowell was almost always right on American Idol. They can not replace him. Instead, they should replace the entire panel of judges. The show needs a total overhaul.

*I like dogs, not cats. But I wouldn’t have either.

*Lawyers are smart, doctors are smarter.

*I get paid about what I should. I’m a teacher, not a doctor.

*Patriotism is important, but we should respect those who question authority and take the government to task when it screws up.

*I hope we go to the moon again someday.

*Kids are lazy because parents are lazy.

*Educators like to start new programs to attract the smart kids. Parents will always go for those. We also have tons of programs for the low kids, or the mean kids. We just don’t have a lot for the kids in the middle.

*Inflated grades and weighted grades have made it bad to be a “B” student these days. Most of us really are “B” and “C” students, no matter what you put on our grade card.

*NASCAR is boring on TV.

*Tiger Woods is a foul-mouthed jerk. I felt that way a year ago.

*I don’t hunt or fish. My brother does.

*I was more in my element in the dugout than I have ever been in the classroom.

*My best friends are still the friends I had when I was 12.

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Getting older is fine. Feeling older stinks.

Seems like yesterday I was standing in my English classroom, which was also now the new “Media” classroom, preparing to teach TV for the first time.

I had two sections, one with 32 students, the other 33, and my only background was in print journalism in college and high school. Twenty years and two months later, we have a studio, a dozen cameras, 14 edit bays, a separate classroom, and every piece of equipment we need to do our little show. In fact, we are currently working on “HTV Magazine” number 174, which seems impossible.

My hair was dark brown in the fall of 1989, I wore glasses, and I was still coaching baseball. Now, the ever-thinning hair is grey, I have contact lenses, and I have not filled out a line-up card in 15 years.

I still get up excited to work on HTV and The Friday Show, but now I automatically awaken way too early, around 5 a.m. I’m dead by 8 or 9 at night. Those Saturday HTV work days are no longer as fun as they used to be. The kids seem to have a little less time to stay late or come in early. Maybe I don’t insist like I used to. Mellowing happens.

The novelty and excitement of producing a TV show has faded a bit because, thanks to Youtube and other online portals, anyone can upload video to share with the world, and it seems the dumber it is, or the more shocking it is, the more young people will watch. In general, across the nation, fewer kids want to do serious journalism. They would rather create the next big, pointless clip to “go viral.”

The equipment is changing again, and I have been through a lot of that since 1989. We have 12 GL2 camcorders, and are thankful for them. We will be one of the last programs on earth to go HD or to use tapeless cameras, I imagine, due to budget concerns, or maybe due to my concern that schools need to worry a little less about the bells and whistles and focus on finding, training, encouraging and championing reporters who will tackle tough stories, kids who will dare someone to take away their freedom to report the truth and question authority. I am probably itching for more First Amendment battles than most advisers, because I hear about very few of those in scholastic broadcasting these days. Many of us are not pushing the envelope like we should. Some of us aren’t even opening the envelope in the first place.

There have been moments to celebrate in my program in 2009. A memorable “convergence” bus tour where we saw a lot of the eastern and southern U.S. and shared it all with those who followed us online. A great ten days I’ll never forget. I probably have one more of those in me before I head into the sunset.

HTV won the “STN Excellence Award” last March, and we were all very thrilled, then we experienced the letdown of being a Pacemaker finalist, but not a winner. We have won ten times in the past, but not in 2009. It was another reminder that broadcast contests should not be your reason to exist. If it is, you will get your heart broken frequently by decisions made by judges whom you will likely never meet.

I have been bolstered more than I expected this fall by my Broadcast I class, which shows tremendous potential. They have enthusiasm, talent, and so far, the dedication to work after school until the job is done. The HTV staff has been improving each month, and their understanding that they have not done their best show yet gives me plenty of hope for them in the weeks and months ahead.

So as 2009 draws to a close, I look back with with a lot of great memories, and the realization that as I venture further into the twilight of my teaching career, we still have plenty of great stories in our future here at Hillcrest, stories by teens, for teens.

See you on the other side of the new year.

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The sixth annual STN Challenge contest is just around the corner. It’s simply one of the toughest, coolest contests out there for scholastic broadcasters. I should know. I started them.

In 2003, which seems like the Ice Age in the ten-year history of STN, we wanted to put kids to the test in a brand new way. It was decided that a strict, five-day production contest, with the proper topic, could really give kids a taste of news pressure that they might not experience the rest of the year.

So we came up with a topic that asked teams to cover the problem of obesity among American teens. Over 30 schools entered, which was about twice as many as we anticipated. In the end, about 22 of them actually made the contest deadline. The judging began and we announced the five finalists on the STN website, which was a cool way to recognize five deserving teams, and to stir up interest in the final results.

Since there was no STN convention in 2003, and I was already making presentations regularly at the JEA convention, we set up a special hour in Portland, OR to honor our winners. What a great hour that was as we watched the top three entries, and in the end, Waianae High School from Hawaii walked away with the top prize. It would not be their last.

I remember the kids who produced the top three stories coming up front to talk about their entries. There was a lot of pride in that room, and a lot of appreciation from peers of both the honored students and their teachers. The STN Challenge had done exactly what it was intended to do. It had inspired students, in teams of four, to work together, often late into the night (or morning) to meet a tight deadline. It had also fueled their creative powers and lit a fire under them that often continued to burn the rest of the year. (”Hey, we did the STN Challenge…we can handle anything else you wanna throw at us”)

With all due respect, I have to ask you this, STN teachers: With all this contest offers, and the many lessons it brings, and the bonding opportunities it presents, how can you NOT enter your kids in the 2009 Challenges? Give it a shot. I promise it will be worth it.

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Seems like it was just yesterday I was wishing the class of 2008 a happy life, and sending them on their way. Now the ‘09 gang leaves, and soon it will be “hello” to the 21st staff of “HTV Magazine.”

Perspective is often best achieved from a distance. I don’t know how to evaluate the class of ‘09 just yet. Some things are certain. They were smart. All eight of my HTV seniors are “A” students, full of potential. They were creative, and when they had to, they could find and gather stories fast. They proved that on our spring break bus tour, when they often had two hours to shoot, and then had to have the edited piece done by noon the next day, no matter how much site-seeing they planned to do.

They were not the most competitive group I’ve had. They were proud of winning our show’s unprecedented tenth broadcast Pacemaker in November, despite little fanfare from our local media. They were also happy to earn our fifth STN Excellence Award in March. But individual awards were just not a priority. We chose to sit out a number of contests because of timing, or expense, or lack of interest. That’s how I handle it. If the kids don’t seem to care about a contest, we pass. Each year is different, and each staff is different. This group seemed to be fine with just doing their stories and doing their part to maintain the tradition of HTV.

I had excellent leadership on the staff. Mehleena, you did great as News Director. Alex, ditto as Line Producer. Sarah, you left a tough act to follow as Chief Photog. Thanks to Fran, Rob, Curtis, Lauren, and Chase as well. I think your willingness to go the extra mile on many of your stories spoke volumes for those who will follow you.

Now I welcome 14 seniors to our staff next year, and only four juniors. We’ll see if it’s a rebuilding year, or a re-loading year. Either way, my job won’t be boring, I’m sure.

To those who drop by to read this blog now and then, have a great summer. I’ll be back a bloggin’ in September.

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For the next couple of weeks, you can go here: davishtv.tumblr.com to see my new blog about the 2009 HTV Bus Tour.

Links to all the blogs by our students and producers will appear on our home page, www.htvmagazine.com. These blogs will feature plenty of photos, journals, and audio clips.

Only the HTV home page will carry the video stories and other clips we upload from the road. So check in often, and comment when you want. In fact, your kids can upload video responses if they want. Information about how to do that will be on the HTV home page.

Now, I’ve got some packing to do!

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It’s the 20th season of “HTV Magazine” and we have decided to mark the occasion with an absolutely insane spring trip.

We will load up all 19 HTV staffers, six chaperones, and our trusty bus driver on March 18. We’ll head east on a 12-day journey to Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Virginia Beach, Charlotte, Nashville, Memphis, and plenty of points in between. Each step of the way, we will shoot stories, take photos, write blogs, and upload it all to our website. We will also send the video segments to Apple’s K-12 iTunes site.

This is the ultimate journalism field trip, one that’s been in the works since the fall of 2007. The funding is coming along, although we’re not quite at our goal just yet. Hey, we’ve got a month!

If you or your students would like to play along with this “Where In the World Is HTV?” experience, they can send us feedback during the 12 days of the trip, and even in the weeks that follow. The htvmagazine.com website will make it all possible, thanks to the hard work of our web manager, Mike Teuber. We will accept written responses, and video responses.

For those of you who produce a daily newscast, you will appreciate our challenges as we plan to shoot and edit three packages a day, for 12 days straight. The stories will be diverse, just like our audience. I just hope they’ll be good.

We hope you’ll check in with us now and then, and feel free to participate, or encourage your students to do so. We can’t wait to see America from a bus, with cameras and mics in hand, as we seek out those golden story nuggets that, in the spirit of Charles Kuralt, Steve Hartman and Bob Dotson, are waiting for us just down the road a bit.

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I went along to watch an HTV crew do an interview the other day. It was the first time I’ve done that in maybe 15 years, aside from those occasions when we ventured out as an entire staff to shoot a special project or show. So why the interest in this story?

Lauren and Alex, two of my seniors, found Edward Skiffington, a retired soldier who lives on the south side of town. He was the reason I wanted to tag along. “Skiff” is a World War II veteran. He fought in General Patton’s Third Army. You know, the one that marched through Europe after D-Day, defeating the enemy left and right. In fact, he was there the day Patton gave that famous speech immortalized on screen by George C. Scott in the movie, “Patton.” Rent it if you haven’t seen it. Skiff’s descriptions of the real Patton were priceless. He recalled how the General would drive up in a jeep and “rally” the troops with a few choice words. I heard those words in a movie, but Skiff heard them in person 65 years ago on a battlefield.

The girls’ interview provided me with a chance to listen to a 90-year-old hero describe experiences from his life that most of us just read about. Not only did he fight in the Third Army in the last world war, he also saw action in Korea, serving in a famous integrated unit some white soldiers would not be a part of. Skiff said, “I am from Massachussetts, and it was no big deal to me. But there were some it really bothered.” I bet.

He described in detail how lucky he was to survive an attack by the Chinese one day while his unit was on patrol. They took heat from the enemy on both sides of them, and barely got off the road where they were sitting ducks for a few eternal minutes.

Skiff talked proudly, but realistically, about his service. He was single during WWII, which allowed him to joke about the ladies in Paris, all this while his wife sat nearby in the kitchen. I’m sure she’s heard it all before. Lauren and Alex had a few laughs about that one. He also smiled and claimed whiskey got them through the tough times as much as anything back then. I’d say a stiff drink was about the only thing that helped after he walked into a concentration camp the day the Third Army arrived to liberate it in ‘45.

The scenes he described were right out of the accounts you can read in history books. He saw the emaciated prisoners. The German soldiers had fled the camp before Patton’s troops arrived, so the only people left were the civilians who were starving and nearing death. Skiff saw the showers, and heard the prisoners explain that something other than water rained down in there. He also saw the gas chambers, where the bodies from those deadly showers were taken for disposal. He had a few choice words for the “fella in Iran” who recently said the Holocaust didn’t really happen.

I heard once that over 1,000 World War II veterans were dying everyday, and that was several years ago. These men and women are living, breathing history, and when you have a chance to hear someone like Skiff in person, do it. Won’t it be great to share his story with the HTV audience in a few weeks? I don’t know if it meets our usual “do teens care?” criteria. I hope so. But it certainly meets our other one, the “should teens care?” test.

Finally, here’s a big “thanks” to Lauren and Alex for letting me hang around in the background. It’s an hour of my life I will always value, and I pretty sure they feel the same way.

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“Boxed In”

Amanda and Janet turned white, and walked as close to Mr. Dolan as they could. The others fell in behind Cunningham and a young, armed guard in about two seconds. The prison recreation director led the Hunter TV team down a long corridor that seemed to go on forever. The pace was brisk, except for the eighth member of the staff on the field trip, Lesli Jameson.

If anyone at Hunter High was a free spirit, it was Lesli. She never met a butterfly she wouldn’t chase when she was in grade school. Dolan frequently liked to tease her about “shiny things,” jingling his keychain in the air to remind her she needed to return to reality and get back on task. This time, she stopped in her tracks to look out a small window in the corridor. A guard was carrying something across the yard. A box of some kind. Before she could get a better look, Bill Agler, holding a Panasonic 456 SVHS camcorder by the handle, yelled, “LESLI! Come on!” It seemed to jolt her back to reality, because she immediately joined her classmate and before the others noticed, they were back in line. Still, Leslie kept wondering, “What was in the box?”

The journey ended in a poorly-lit, small cafeteria used by the prison staff. It was empty except for the teens, their teacher, and Carl Cunningham. The guard who escorted them to this hideaway left them there. He was probably guarding the door from the outside now, Dolan tried to convince himself.

“We’re fine here. We’ll sit tight until we get the all-clear,” said Cunningham.

Elise returned to “reporter mode” and asked what was happening.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. You heard the alarm like I did, and they told us to come here. This happens once in while. Just think, you can tell everyone you were in a maximum security prison during a lockdown.”

Cunningham’s answer did not satisfy anyone. Nerves were on edge, and not knowing exactly what caused the lockdown left everyone to imagine their own scenario. More than a few were thinking “riot.” They’d seen too many prison movies. Dolan and Cunningham started a quiet conversation in the corner, near the soft drink machine, and that didn’t calm the students.

“Janet said she thinks we’ll be here all day,” said Rob.

“Who knows? This is crazy,” Karl replied, looking down at his camcorder. “Should I get some shots in here?”

Elise said he should. You can never have too much b-roll. She asked about footage when the alarm went off, but Karl was too shaken to hit “record.”

Lesli shuffled alongside the others.

“I looked out that small window we passed. A guard was carrying a cardboard box, a pretty big one.” Lesli had everyone’s attention, except for Amanda, who was actually sitting alone at a table, opening a pack of gum, pretending not to care.

“It was hard to see, but it looked like it was heavy enough. I don’t know what was in it.” Lesli had limited credibility at times, but today, she was Leslie Stahl. Everyone was listening.

“What if the box was what caused the lockdown?”

Rob wasn’t so sure. “Was it big enough for a human head?” That creeped everyone out. It wasn’t as funny as Rob had intended. Brian did laugh a little. He would, thought Elise.

Dolan then asked everyone to “listen up.” Dolan went into “coach-mode” when he wanted everyone’s attention, and he had it now.

“Carl says we are totally safe here, and that this thing could end anytime. When we get out of here, the plan is to go ahead with the visit to the gas chamber, as long as the warden is okay with it. So just sit tight,” Dolan said.

So no real information about the cause of the lockdown. Great. Elise was itching to talk to Cunningham, but he was on his portable radio now, and she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, or what the squeaky voice coming through the small speaker was saying.

To everyone’s surprise, Cunningham asked to talk to the Hunter group. He didn’t have to ask twice.

“Okay, I found out what happened. It’s going to be fine. Someone tossed a box of weapons over the prison wall. That’s what caused the lockdown. The guards got to the box before any of the inmates. The lockdown will probably be over soon, and we can get back to your tour.”

Lesli was excited.

“I knew the box was involved. I knew it!” The petite, scatter-brained junior felt like her hunch had been totally confirmed, and she couldn’t have been happier.

Brian asked Cunningham the question Elise wanted to ask, and that really irritated her.

“So what kind of stuff was in the box? Were there guns?” Brian seemed hopeful about the guns.

Cunningham said he didn’t have those details. He might find out before they left, or he’d called Mr. Dolan later.

“Okay, let’s talk about what we do next,” Dolan said, and then he reminded them one more time of their pending walk to the gas chamber.

After a half hour of vending machine snacks, and at least one game of paper football across a cafeteria table, won by Bill on a field goal, the all-clear was given, and the trek to the chamber loomed. Cunningham and Dolan reminded the group to keep their eyes forward, and to avoid speaking to prisoners. Not that anyone needed reminding.

The walk across the yard was creepy. Prisoners were within about 90 feet, home to first base on a baseball diamond, Dolan thought, from the Hunter TV crew as they walked to the gas chamber. It was a long walk, maybe a hundred yards. It seemed like a mile.

Bill Agler was told not to aim the camera during the walk. He could shoot all he wanted in the chamber, and shoot some more outside of it. When they got there, everyone was silent. It was easy to imagine cuffed convicts strolling to the small, brick building at the end of the yard, toward their final minutes on earth. They were placed in a tiny holding cell while the room next door was prepared. Sulfuric acid was poured into a three-gallon tub under a perforated chair, and when it was time, the warden pulled a lever which dropped cyanide tablets into the acid. Once the prisoner passed, the room was cleared of the deadly gas via a 45-foot pipe which led out of the building. The place was so ominous, so sobering, that the Hunter group did not stay long. Even Brian Mission was silenced by what he saw, and what it represented. The last execution in this small chamber took place in February of 1965, but you could almost smell the fumes thirty years later. At least that’s what Dolan thought as he walked back across the yard with his eight young journalists.

Moments later, they were thanking Carl Cunningham for the hospitality, for the arrangements he made on their behalf, and they promised to send him a copy of the final show. Six weeks later, they did.

For the show, Elise did some research about the death penalty. In Missouri, lethal injections replaced the gas chamber when new laws were passed in the late 1970s. The gas chamber had replaced public hangings in 1937. The first execution to take place since 1965 happened in 1989 when George “Tiny” Mercer met his Maker for the brutal strangling of Karen Keeton.

The staff of Hunter television found a story on their trip to Jefferson City. In fact, they found several stories, and shared a life experience. The autumn colors, the bright sunshine, and the relative peace surrounding the prison walls belied the tense, sad, somber, violent tone of life inside those same grey walls.

The interview with Undertaker Jones and the entire special about teen crime was well-received. It ran on local cable access back home, just like all Hunter High shows. In addition, the local public television station ran the program in its entirety the following fall, giving it exposure in over 50 counties in Missouri and northern Arkansas. Elise was proud of the final product, as was Mr. Dolan. They never learned of the fate of Undertaker Jones, whose first name was William. Elise often wondered if he ever was released. She doubted it.

They also never found out what exactly was in the box that caused the lockdown. Carl Cunningham was not at liberty to follow-up with those details. After all, it might make someone on the outside think the “bloodiest 47 acres west of the Mississippi” was still a very dangerous place to be.

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