What do you get when a school utilizes its students, technology and the drive to learn more about sharing their story? You get what High Plains Community School has created: a live school News Show. High Plains has been innovating this for the last four years. This news show, that is totally student driven, has been running as a live stream show for the last two years, and the students are bringing the community and beyond happenings in the school that lots of folks were probably not aware of.
Switching to a live show at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year was a big step for their digital media class. Principal Cameron Hudson said, “It provided accountability and a sense of urgency for the students who are running the show. They know that each week they have to get their work done and go live with the show for the public to see.”
The news show does so much for the students, the school and the viewership they have. If you get on to watch a HPCTV news show, you’ll get more than just seeing the latest sports scores or the student that got nominated for an honor. You’ll get to experience something special with them.
Not only will you see beyond the walls of the school and all the happenings going on inside, you’ll be witnessing a cross-curricular program that the students are learning and growing like they never knew they could. They may not even know that they are doing these things, but they are! Everything from setting up interviews, understanding deadlines and expectations of doing a show live, working with peers, being accountable, taking pride in the quality of their work, understanding technology and editing and the list goes on and on and on.
The news show provides the students with an idea on how great they can be. It’s a real live way to understand that they have a chance to build community and represent their school in a positive light. Students also get to see just how far their ‘reach’ is. They never knew how many people want to tune in to see the work they put in to create the show that shows so much of their school’s story. They get to be the ones to show people big things that the students of the school are doing that otherwise may have gone unknown to too many.
High Plains is onto something great with how they are allowing themselves, as students, to soak up all that is available to them, do something great for the community and prepare themselves for the bright futures they have ahead. Great job High Plains on branding your school in this technology-filled society we live in!
