It's unique - a class offered at UCHS that offers work in the field, technology techniques, a whole lot of challenges and a weekend of fun while you work. What better way to teach students the many aspects of journalism than having them doing hands-on live action broadcasting. That is what the journalism class did Nov. 23 and 24 at 1A provincial boys' volleyball.
This is not a new project idea. Vice-principal and journalism teacher, Ruth Cey, has been working with students in this manner for several years now. It started with the first project being her UCHS class covering the IIHF pre-tournament game held in Unity. That project turned out to be one of the highlights of the weekend for both students and game participants. The bar was set and there was no place to go but up.
Provincial volleyball falls within the semester the class is in; therefore they have chosen these events to cover for their weekend long, live action production in subsequent years. The class covered girls' volleyball hosted in Unity in 2010. Last year the students worked in Wilkie for their provincial boys' volleyball event, and this year they set up dual stations at Medstead and Spiritwood.
Ruth Cey tell us, "The initial ideas (blogs, video interviews, one photojournalism) came from some earlier e-journalism projects that I had helped with when I was at McLurg. The Austria-Latvia project incorporated many of the methods used in these earlier projects, plus new tech tools, such as Twitter, which was introduced to the coverage by Sarah Shepherd, who was interning at UCHS at the time. Also, the Junior Game project was the first time we tried streaming - with an online program, we were able to produce a decent view of the game for people from Latvia."
"Before such an event, students learn various skills outlined in the Journalism 20 curriculum including conducting interviews, photojournalism and article writing. We also explore the concept of News 2.0, the online environment where citizens can become journalists and where interaction is expected. We set up a test blog where they can practise their skills and upload material before the event. This year, Ryan brought the streaming equipment to one of our classes so the students had a short introduction to the process of delivering live content online. While many of the skills needed for the project are covered in the months leading up to the event, we spend about 8-10 classes prior to the event on specific preparation work.
"In the last week students created our blog and have done countless hours to prepare for the event. They have set up a Twitter feed, contacted coaches, designed posters, created online polls, managed equipment lists, created a J20 logo, written initial blog posts and many more activities! While we go into an event with a coverage plan, we believe that true journalism looks for the unexpected.
"The response has always been positive and the coverage helps to make the event special. The blogs end up being online archives where players, coaches and others can go to relive the events covered. Last year, we had about 10,000 hits on the 4A Provincial Boys VB blog; since the tournament, there have been about a thousand more. It feels good to know that the students' work has been meaningful to others and that the stories live on. Really, while it is an engaging and authentic learning experience, it is really a heck of a lot of fun! I love watching the enthusiasm growing, the challenges met and the way the unexpected twists bring life to the project."
Students in the class say they get to choose which jobs they think would be the most interesting or appeal to them, and there are many of them. With a 23-student class, along with two Grade 12 special credit students, this makes a big media team ready to take on the challenge of live entertainment. There is an element of "winging it," that could be present in any live broadcast event, but more often than not it turns into some of the best coverage, moments and memories from the weekend. The media team were armed with iPads, laptops, a camera for still shots and many other production pieces, enabling them to run a fine-tuned media live broadcast.
Ken Parker, teacher at UCHS and a volleyball coach himself, drove the students there as he was one of the officials for the weekend. Parker offered his opinion that "For the coaches and players I feel it creates a sense that this is a "big league" event. While this is not the Grey Cup or the Olympics, the additional media coverage makes it just as exciting. Rarely do people ever get interviewed at a high school event. As a coach, I like the updated reports of the games and tournament happenings because it gives people back home an opportunity to see what is going on. For the teams and players that are there, I would see that it would create a lot of excitement and help build memories of a trip to provincial playoffs.
"Last year in Wilkie, one of the most competitive coaches in attendance won the moustache competition (online vote) without even being aware that it existed. It was very interesting to see how much fun he had with something at the event that was in addition to volleyball."
After that first year, Cey approached Ryan Kobelsky, now assistant technology manager for Living Sky School Division, about helping to stream with more than one camera. Kobelsky became instrumental to all projects since, upping the ante every year to now, when the journalism class was streaming in high def, using more than one camera, with score overlays.
The division appreciates the importance of expanding its abilities to stream various events and this class project is fortunate enough to be able to pilot some of the software, thanks to the support of the school division. This is the same equipment used to enable classrooms to have speakers and other teaching tools broadcast to them in class, rather than them having to travel.
Kobelsky says, "I source the programs and hardware that we use for the production (computers, some cameras, software), provide technical support leading up to and during the production. I work alongside the students during the weekend to make sure there are no technical glitches. I absolutely love it! It got started with TV broadcasting in CWBC Channel 2 many years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. Projects like these give students the opportunity to see what a real media production, such as those done by TSN or CTV, is like. Each year this project gets better, and this year will be a first for two communities, two buildings, a newly designed website and the technology to broadcast HD."
Principal Maureen Robertson supports this project wholeheartedly. She states, "I hear back from these communities what great citizens UCHS has as they represent their school and their community with respect, responsibility and good citizenship. We feel fortunate to have not only the division support this project, but a teacher who enjoys bringing this opportunity to the students, as well as the event they are serving at.
"This project represents authentic learning and student engagement. The kids are well trained to put all the pieces together for a wonderful learning experience. This project helps students understand the value of work experience and we ensure it is included in their portfolio and resume. What is interesting is that this project has evolved into a cultural event as students begin asking, "What are we going to do next year?"
Watching Unity Credit Union GM Gerald Hauta load a suitcase and bedroll onto the bus to accompany the students as a parent and trip supervisor adds to the community flavor of this project. Hauta commented, saying "The opportunity that this provides is incredible. It is fascinating watching this group set up, organize and work together. It is a unique way for communities to come together without having to travel as you can follow your team without leaving home. I commend UCHS and Mrs. Cey on this project. I would love to have been more involved but I couldn't hold a candle to these young people and their use of technology."
At one point in the day, Blair Farthing from CTV came out to interview and watch the kids in action. This segment will be broadcast on 6 p.m. Saskatoon news as well as Sunday evening on Prince Albert and Regina CTV stations.
At the end of a very long first day, reporters from this class blogged, "This morning waking up at 6 a.m. barely crawling out of bed we asked ourselves what are we going to learn today, and let us tell you we learned that media coverage is not just a walk in the park. Especially when every volleyball game goes into the third set after starting a little late; it really makes it a long day. Even with our small news team we handled the job and must we say we did a fine job. We think on behalf of our news team here in Spiritwood we can say we have learned lots of new skills, but are extremely mentally and physically exhausted. Now we can go back to our home in Medstead where we will be camping out on the school floor. Oh the high school memories. Until next time, this is Bert and Perny, signing out."
UCHS journalism class has had one student go onto to study journalism and broadcasting and has a student this year who has applied for studies in this field as well.
