Fundraiser for a class I teach

[Denette]

Hey guys!  

I teach a small class at a tiny high school in a rural part of central Arkansas.  I spend 90 percent of my time teaching English, but the one elective I teach is video journalism, in which a small group of students create a newscast from scratch to be aired to the school and community once every couple of weeks.  

My students are truly incredible.  They are passionate, work hard, and put themselves into every newscast.  We aim for a quality blend of informative and entertaining, and usually hit the mark pretty well.  

This class is one-of-a-kind.  It's a year-long creative, collaborative project that functions like the real world.  The kids each get jobs and take them seriously.  Some kids specialize in editing video.  Others specialize in camera work, anchoring, lighting, writing, you name it.  We all get our fingerprints on every newscast before it gets published.  Everyone involved gets a sense of accomplishment and pride, and all the students in the school love watching it.

Check out our channel on YouTube here!  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNlgLkuMJlg7rgFYsLA88_Q

I'll also be linking to some of our greatest hits later in this post.

Here's the deal.  Our school district is tiny.  Our entire high school has 375 students in it.  Grades 9-12.  Most of the kids in our district are from impoverished homes.  My program literally has no budget.  Any money we get is from donations.  Short version?  I set up a DonorsChoose page.  Please donate if you feel led to!  These kids benefit so much from anything they get.  The more technology this program gets, the better the odds are that students will spend enough time using it to learn it and carry those skills on to other areas in life.

tl;dr:
Tiny high school with no budget for journalism produces pretty sweet content but needs help getting quality equipment, please donate!
DonorsChoose link:

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/lights-cameras-action-packed-video-jou/3934713/?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=ifproject&utm_term=teacher_4239310&rf=page-dc-2019-02-ifproject-teacher_4239310&challengeid=20902022

I guarantee anything you donate will help improve these kids' experience in this one-of-a-kind class.

If you're still reading, sweet.  Check out some of our best segments below.

Sometimes we play it straight and do interviews with students about things going on around the school and community.  We do all the standards - sports, clubs, and so on.  Here's a video from a couple years ago of our robotics team discussing their performance at a competition!  https://youtu.be/3APy4WKlQVk?t=237

Sometimes we conduct investigative journalism and produce heavy-hitting exposés, such as the time we revealed that the bathroom stall in one of our boys' restrooms has not had a stall door since the 1990s.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVZszo8PXU&t=298s

 

We have even dipped our toes into the world of video game reviews on occasion.  https://youtu.be/N8LqkZhAtfM?t=476

We dive into the divisive world of politics on a level that students are able to appreciate.  https://youtu.be/hYBQwoHM_tc?t=485

 

And sometimes, since high school is a tough place to be, sometimes it's just cool that the students have a public forum for venting their frustrations.  The newscast lets these kids feel heard.  https://youtu.be/vtRdPR_3Yp4?t=353

Cooking segments?  Yeah, we totally do that.  https://youtu.be/QjyUZmT2Y1E?t=3

And sometimes the editors just have a fun time and end the school year with a bang, retconning summer vacation into a time for rebuilding the school building after a deadly invasion of fidget spinners. https://youtu.be/ut6HUg142Eg?t=589

Oh, and there was that time last year where I decided to eat the freaking CAROLINA REAPER on the air with two of my most fearless students.  That's me on the right.

We did a fundraiser where we set goals, and if we met certain goals we were going to eat one of a series of increasingly spicier peppers.  We actually fell a long, long way short of the Reaper goal, but we did it anyway.  Anything for the crew and school.

(and before you say anything, I had their parents' written permission, I'm not insane)  

https://youtu.be/XpBTJid58UY?t=586

 

 

 

 

 

[RichardA]

Of course you are. You're just trying to disguise it.

[Gary Beasley]

Thats pretty cool, my brother lived in Mayflower for quite a few years. Nice to see something like this going on so near my hometown.

[Denette]

1 hour ago, RichardA said:

Of course you are. You're just trying to disguise it.

Not sure what you’re referring to...?

 

1 hour ago, Gary Beasley said:

Thats pretty cool, my brother lived in Mayflower for quite a few years. Nice to see something like this going on so near my hometown.

It’s a good little town.  Low income, not a ton to do, but a lot of good people.

[RichardA]

18 minutes ago, Denette said:

Not sure what you’re referring to...?

 

 

Aw, we're all a little crazy, and we all hide or disguise it in one way or another.  It was not meant as a complaint.

[Coop]

I think that is really, really cool! Our young folks now days, especially from low income families where both parents have to work, get a heavy tug from the gangs and druggies, that they need something special and loving to tug in the opposite direction. Well done Denette! I’m in! 

[Denette]

13 hours ago, K Cooper said:

I think that is really, really cool! Our young folks now days, especially from low income families where both parents have to work, get a heavy tug from the gangs and druggies, that they need something special and loving to tug in the opposite direction. Well done Denette! I’m in! 

Thanks man!  And THANK YOU FOR THE DONATION!  You're awesome!

 

16 hours ago, RichardA said:

Aw, we're all a little crazy, and we all hide or disguise it in one way or another.  It was not meant as a complaint.

Gotcha!  I just wasn't sure which part of my post you were responding to, haha.  Yes, I mean, I ate the hottest pepper on earth and filmed it for teenagers' entertainment.  Crazy indeed.

[RichardA]

Excellent  response to Coop, because he really is.

[Denette]

If anyone has been on the fence and considering  donating to this fundraiser, an anonymous donor has decided to triple anyone’s donation. That means for every dollar we get, we actually get three dollars. Unfortunately this isn’t retroactive, so it only helps if I keep getting more donations. No huge pressure, just pointing that out.