Just For TV Teachers

So your show needs to step up its content. The topics you have been covering to death, like school activities, sports, those talented teens, good community causes, all the “usual suspects,” have gotten old. But the administration, in your building or in your district, is watching closely. You operate under prior review, like most scholastic broadcasts. Everyone likes your show as it is with its relatively safe content, and you are concerned about taking on edgier fare and getting it past the higher-ups.

The best advice I have for your kids if they really want to tackle tougher stories and do more in-depth, substantive journalism, is to start covering controversial topics that have nothing to do with the school.

That’s right. It’s a good bet your administration will be more forgiving of stories that highlight the tough stuff teens are dealing with, from drugs to alcohol to depression to whatever. As long as it doesn’t make the school or district look bad.

Based on years of experience, I think the fastest way to get into trouble is to cover anything that criticizes the school district’s use of funds. It will strike nerves from the principal all the way up the ladder to the school board president. The second-fastest way to fall under scrutiny is to criticize athletic teams, or the money spent to keep certain sports alive despite lack of success or student involvement. Basically, every school has its sacred cows, and there are land mines all around them.

Non-school topics also bring their challenges. They are not easy to cover. Kids have to get off campus, spend time away from school chasing down sources, and basically go to the story, wherever it is. It means your young journalists will have to approach people who do not know them, or your program. Establishing credibility with total strangers takes skill and maturity.

Once kids get a taste of taking on controversial, challenging issues not related to your school, they will find it rewarding and more “real.” Then, after establishing a track record of accuracy and fairness in handling those stories, it will be easier to make the case that your kids have earned the right to report on school-related issues and policies.

Remember, I didn’t say you should not cover potentially sticky school topics. You definitely should. You just have to come at them with a proven track record, a record of professionalism that will open doors for your student journalists. Our kids SHOULD be watching district decisions and policies that impact them, and they should be prepared to shine a fair, but bright light on those who are making those decisions.

Comments Off

Mid-April means time to get serious here in Springfield as we prepare for “Camp STN,” coming in three forms this summer.

First up, our “Returners-Only” camp for teachers who have previously attended our week-long workshop. This one has some added spice this year because Les Rose, award-winning CBS News photog, is joining the staff. We can’t wait to see his presentations, and get him involved with the assignments and critiques we put teachers through. Remember, it’s “teacher-as-student” at Camp STN. We are working on all sorts of surprises for this year’s returnees. It all starts on July 13.

A week later, the “big camp,” as it’s known to the staff, begins. On July 20 we will welcome teachers from across the nation who will be attending for the first time. We have hosted the camp since the summer of 2000, so this year we will be changing up some of our approaches, re-thinking the order of our presentations, and basically just giving the camp some fresh content. The week of the “big camp” is probably my favorite week of the summer, and it’s so nice to work with teachers who discover they are no longer alone in TV Land.

Finally, from August 4-7, we will travel to Lee’s Summit West High School in Kansas City to work with ambitious young broadcasters attending “Camp STN For Students.” We will keep them hopping all day, and by the end of the week, the kids usually have a new vocabulary, and a better appreciation of video storytelling.

Registration for all three camps remains open at: www.campstn.com. As I type this, it appears we will fill all three camps in the next month or so. Register soon. We would love to see you in Springfield for teacher camp, or in KC for the kids camp.

Comments Off

This head cold I am experiencing has made it impossible to sleep, so I am exhausted from all the wheezing and sneezing. I don’t think I’ve taken a deep breath in at least a week. So I decided this week’s blog would be quick-hittters about this and that. I’ll do my best to stay positive.

*”Idol Gives Back” on Wednesday night was fun to watch, but about an hour too long. I thought Carrie Underwood and Fergie were the highlights. My wife says whoever dresses Carrie is doing a great job. Teri Hatcher gets props for taking on “Before He Cheats” with Carrie in the house. She wasn’t great, but she gave it her best. I grew up in the era of variety shows, so that may be why I liked IGB as much as I did. I still think Jimmy Kimmel falls back on crude jokes too much.

*Baseball is back, and the Royals are playing well. So are my Cardinals. I don’t expect either team to finish near the top, so we better enjoy it while we can.

*I don’t know much about global warming and its impact, but it seems to me we have more extreme weather now than we used to. We’ve been flooded in the Ozarks this spring, coming off a rough winter. I wonder how hot this summer will be.

*I am not real political, but it seems to me the candidates are not talking much about gas prices. I read where gas was at $1.42 a gallon when President Bush took office, and now it’s up to well over $3.00 most places. It’s going to hurt so many industries and people in the months ahead if the prices keep going up. Just ask the kid who delivers your pizza.

*It was 20 years ago that I had the pleasure of coaching a state champion baseball team at Hillcrest. I don’t see those guys much, but maybe I’ll drop by the class of ‘88 reunion this summer to reminisce. Those were some great times, which I wouldn’t trade for anything, but for some reason, I burned out on coaching faster than most. It may be because I was spoiled by the really good teams we had in the late 80s. We were in the USA Today Super 25 for nine weeks one year. That was cool.

*My HTV seniors have one more program to produce. I told them to just do a good show, and not to feel any pressure to do a great, last story. They have been a wonderful group to work with, and the stories they have produced have been memorable.

*Finally, a sad note I feel compelled to share. My youngest daughter went through some trauma a couple of weeks ago. While waiting at a stoplight two blocks from home, her dog Mickey jumped out of her car window, something he had never done, and landed in front of an oncoming truck. He was killed instantly, and my daughter saw it all. She instantly felt heartache, guilt, and a great sense of loss. For anyone, but especially single girls who count on their pets for companionship, it’s like losing a member of the family. The good news is, she says she will get another dog soon, and she also has wonderful memories of Mickey, who was her first pet ever. We buried him in my parents’ backyard. I was the pall bearer.

Comments Off

I’ve been teaching long enough to have sons and daughters of former students take my class and tell me their mom or dad says to tell me “hi.” What I hear on my end is, “YOU ARE SO OLD!” but I smile and tell them “hi” back.

I’ve been teaching long enough to see us go from no final exams, to mandated final exams, to final “evaluative activities,” and then back to final exams. Hard to see how any of it really made much of an impact. Finals are a nice PR tool, but don’t really matter if you don’t give a test at the beginning of the year to see where kids started.

I’ve been teaching long enough to see us go from an unarmed security guard in plain clothes, to a “safety officer” in a cop-like uniform, carrying mace, handcuffs and a gun.

I’ve been teaching long enough that most of the administrators in my building, or “downtown” at district headquarters were in middle school when I started at Hillcrest.

When I started teaching, there were no block schedules, no computer on my desk, no e-mail, only two phones in the building that I could access if absolutely necessary, and students did research with World Books and microfilm at the public library. They usually wrote research papers by hand.

Once when I taught the “demonstration speech” in English I, a student brought in his rifle and showed us how to clean it.

The students still call me “Coach Davis,” but maybe half of my kids know what sport I coached for ten years.

Our school is in its 50th year. We have had six principals. I have worked for five of them.

I’ve been teaching so long that none of the students on my current staff were born when “HTV Magazine” aired its first show.

None of my students know what a jog shuttle is, or how to shoot with a camera on your shoulder. They do not understand “tracking” and how to correct it.

We produced our first 50 shows without access to the Internet, the first 90 without digital cameras or non-linear editing systems. We couldn’t do slow motion until 2001.

Our first 12 staffs operated without cell phones, our first 15 without text messaging.

The man who hired me to teach has been dead ten years.

In two months, when a long-time colleague retires, I will have the most seniority in our building.

I referenced “Laugh-In” in class last week and not one student knew what I was talking about.

The “fickle finger of fate” has certainly played a cruel joke on me. When, exactly, did I get so old?

Comments Off