Every morning at Rebecca Boone Elementary, a small group of fifth graders gathers in the school library to make a little bit of technological magic happen.

The school has converted a corner of its library into a mini broadcasting studio, complete with green furnishings and background, and just a few pieces of electronic equipment. But that’s all the students need to bring the school’s morning announcements and daily weather report to their classmates from a “new” location every day. 

From the perspective of students in their classrooms, their school news anchors, brought to them via video, could be recording in a professional studio or an exotic, faraway place. And every bit of that magic — scriptwriting, filming, presenting and video editing — is done by the students themselves with the aid of technology and minimal staff support.

Different groups of fifth graders get to take turns doing the morning news for several weeks at a time. They learn the programs involved and get to choose what part of the production they want to help with.

Ryder Augusta, one of the current group of fifth graders, gets to provide updates about the weather every day.

“I like it because I get to go on the news, and then when I’m done I get to see the backgrounds behind me,” Ryder said. He’s helped with all the different parts of the broadcast, but he said anchoring is his favorite. He had to get over some nervousness to do it, though.

“I do not like my voice (on camera),” Ryder admitted. “While I’m doing the news, I just do it and don’t think about it.”

Jaleigh Jaspering is one of two students that do the video editing every morning. They get to select the backgrounds that will appear behind her classmates for their broadcast, but their tasks also include stitching together several smaller recordings to make the final video.

“My favorite is picking out the backgrounds,” Jaleigh noted. “It’s exciting, but I don’t know exactly how to put it. It’s fun.”

Rebecca Boone has been doing student video broadcasts for at least eight years, but the program gained a new tech emphasis when staff member Shelby Graves took over as the school’s library media specialist in 2017. Graves oversees the student production, but on most days her only job is to upload the finished video to the school’s computer network.

The daily projects are a great way for students to combine learning about technology with some of the classic social skills that schools have always taught, Graves said.

“There’s a lot of technology standards that are covered through this ... (but also) listening, writing. Soft skills like collaboration, working together, problem solving,” Graves explained.

One exciting new development this year is that the school has started getting community members to visit and help say the Pledge of Allegiance. So far the students have been joined by mayors, police officers, and a number of other elected officials and public servants.

“It’s been fantastic to have them. The kids were so excited,” Graves commented.

School Principal Steve Weeks noted that the broadcasting program has brought a lot of positive benefits to students at Rebecca Boone. It both encourages and reinforces positive behaviors by giving students something fun to look forward to and role models who can encourage good behavior during the announcements. And it’s a fun chance to practice what students are learning in class.

“It allows us to utilize our writing curriculum in an authentic way, and students have the ability to learn in a hands-on way. It’s been amazing for our students,” Weeks explained. And for students who are perhaps a little nervous or shy, taking part can be a pivotal moment that helps them grow in self-confidence, he added.

Weeks said he’s extremely thankful for the work that Shelby Graves has done with the students, and also for community members who have come in.

“We’ve definitely felt a lot of community support, and we’re really grateful for that,” he said.