The biggest news for some was the International Day of Peace. For others, the lunch: spaghetti with meatballs. Still, other 6-year-olds felt Queen Elizabeth’s funeral beat it all.
Almost 100 first grade students from Nova Southeastern University’s University School spent the morning at NSU student media learning about reporting, news and interviewing.
Six different groups joined the staff of The Current, SUTV and RadioX. They actively participated and asked questions.
“Interviewing is talking to a person beside you and asking what they do,” said one first grader, who wants to be a TV reporter. “I like talking in front of people.”
One student said he would like to cover the political elections, and another wasn’t sure about news distribution.
“Why do they ask the [US] president if they can look up the news on your cellphone?” asked the student, who was excited to learn the news is on the phone after a reporter wrote it.
At RadioX, students were shown how turntables, soundboard and vinyl players work. They also used headsets in the sound booth and learned about making and producing podcasts and shows.
One child was surprised when she heard static on a portable AM/FM radio.
She showed it to the teacher and told her it could be “aliens.”
The teacher joked, “Yes, you should try to see if you hear more.”
At SUTV, the students were eager to play with the TV station’s equipment. They explored the “green screen” and learned the effects it has in changing video backgrounds.
Michael Lynn, assistant director of student media, asked, “Is anyone here a plant?”
“I am a plant. Most of us are plants,” said one first grader, who was wearing a green shirt while watching the green screen effect.
When Lynn told the student that wearing a green shirt on a green screen would make him “invisible,” another student said, “that would be great!”
As the screen constantly changed backgrounds, students were challenged to report on their new location. The most popular one was Disney World. The second most popular background was with animals.
“Animals, animals, animals,” they shouted, especially when the baby penguins showed up.
“My parents will be able to watch me on TV,” said a first grader.
Lynn said he appreciated the opportunity to teach these students the value of news.
“It is important that students from the USchool visit our studio and student media at any age because it gives them a real-world experience of the careers that they could be pursuing in the future,” he said.
Shanti Bruce, chair of the department of communication, media and the arts, agreed.
“I think this was a great success and a fantastic example of collaboration between NSU and the NSU University School,” she said. “I was so pleased with how inspired the students were because they came home talking about their experiences and continued to write in their news reporter’s notebooks.”
The students took home as a gift a reporter’s notebook, an NSU pen and an issue of The Current newspaper.
“We left the centers ready to become DJs and news reporters,” said Alison Dolberg, NSU University School first grade teacher. “We really did have the best time.”
