by Madison Evans
Patiently waiting for their turn to shine, a small group of Sartell Middle School students gathered outside a door leading into what’s called a green-screen room. Inside the room, Nolan Daniels, 11, of Sartell took a deep breath just before the camera started rolling. On cue, he read his carefully prepared script.
Daniels and the other students are members of a newly formed, totally student-run, morning newscast called Sartell Middle School News.
Each week, the student production team creates an eight-minute show with segments on weather, world news and middle-school happenings. A new episode airs every Friday during the Student Advisory class. The show joins Sartell High School and Riverview Intermediate School who already have morning news shows in place.
Launching a morning news show was the brainchild of Sartell Middle School Principal Angela Safran. She reached out to the school district’s Instructional Technology Specialist Kim Hess. Hess immediately liked the concept and envisioned the students learning valuable skills in planning, patience, teamwork and media production.
“It was a great idea to showcase some of our amazing students and staff,” Hess said. “A news show could educate students and staff about events happening here at SMS and also help us all get to know each other better, which helps us build a better sense of community in our school.”
The concept started to become a reality when Hess discovered old equipment used years ago from other news programs in the district. Then, while on the hunt for a recording space, she stumbled across a closet that had already been painted green and would serve as a perfect green-screen room.
The green screen room at SMS is a quiet filming space which is about the size of a closet. The students film as the newscaster stands in front of a green wall. Then, they use technology to digitally remove the green color and replace it with a new background, such as a weather map, graphic or video.
Her only remaining task was to recruit a team of aspiring reporters. Thirty-five middle-school students enthusiastically raised their hands in hopes of fine-tuning their journalism and teamwork skills. Daniels said he joined because he likes meeting and working with new friends.
Guided by Hess, the students begin the week with a “pitch” meeting where they commit to maintaining open minds and thinking up possible story ideas. After deciding the story ideas, they each claim their segments and spend the rest of the week writing scripts, conducting interviews, filming and editing. On Thursday everyone brings their clips together so when Friday comes, the staff and students can view them.
After watching the show, viewers are treated to a “blooper reel.” Shared bursts of laughter, retakes and face palms show the production team is having a blast while trying their best. Their middle-school peers appreciate the work put into the weekly show.
“I really like it,” said Emmaline Brinker, 13, of Sartell. “I think it is a good way for students to express themselves.”
According to Hess, she hopes she can grow the program into a production that will emulate a professional news show. The future looks promising as she recently learned they received a grant from the Sartell-St. Stephen Education Foundation to purchase equipment, including a teleprompter and quality microphones.
Nolan Daniels, 11, of Sartell and a member of the Sartell Middle School News Team, stands in front of a green screen and delivers the weather report for the weekly newscast.
Instructional Technology Specialist Kim Hess leads the Sartell Middle School news program.
