Students at Rebecca Boone Elementary are getting comfortable in front of the green screen.As technology expands into the lower levels of the Warren County R-III School District, fifth-grade students are taking advantage of the latest advancements. Even better, they are using it to promote their social skills.“They get really positive feedback from other students,” said Media Specialist Shelby Graves. “It’s fun for them because it brings out their creative side.”Each morning prior to class, fifth-grade students use an iPad and a program called DoInk to record a news segment in advance for the following day. They have the opportunity to write script, operate the camera, anchor or edit the news.“At the beginning of the year I sent out a form asking what jobs they want or they would like,” said Graves. “Fifth-graders are in charge of everything.”In each broadcast students discuss the menu choices, weather for the day, any events happening like assemblies, theme for the week and a PBIS tip for the week. Also, every Tuesday Assistant Superintendent Dr. Aaron Jones comes to present a joke of the week.“We’ve had the news before, but this is the first year we’ve had the green screen with it,” said Graves.The Rebecca Boone news is similar to regular television news in that students have a narrow window of time to edit and send the finished production to Graves.“What’s really nice is the kids can do it on their own,” said Graves. “The kids are able to produce the program without a teacher even in the room. The kids take a lot of initiative.”Students have begun to master the process from start to finish. So much so, that last month they attended the Midwest Educational Technology Conference at the St. Charles Convention Center, where six of them presented to educators about the DoInk App.“Students like that they have a lot of choices in how to use the program and what backgrounds to use and put in the script,” said Graves. “It’s a really good opportunity for them to be in a leadership role.”

From left, Kenin Haskins, Chandler Blondin and Austin King work on the Rebecca Boone newscast. 

Record photo/Derrick Forsythe