by Claire Miller
Before a story airs on the 6 o’clock news, a team of people has to work together to gather information and find the best way to present it to its audience.
It was this behind-the-scenes process that served as the backdrop for this summer’s Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders day camp.
The College of Education’s Saturday School program offers five, five-week sessions during the year – two sessions in the fall, two in the spring and one in the summer – and a one-week day camp in the summer for gifted students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
This year’s day camp, which took place May 29-June 2 at Georgia State University, put an emphasis on broadcast news, covering the different genres of media and film, the basics of storytelling, and the best ways to shoot and edit footage.
John Kesner, director of Saturday School at GSU, said more than 60 students attended this year’s day camp, which also featured a trip to CNN studios in downtown Atlanta. The field trip and week-long activities were designed to give students “a better understanding of how the news operates,” he said.
Natalie Cook, one of the day camp leaders, worked with third and fourth grade students to create a documentary on endangered species and to poll their classmates on their favorite candies. She was impressed with her students’ technological expertise and how quickly they learned the skills needed to become a journalist.
“It was great to see them connect different art forms and how creative they can be,” she said. “I hope they walk away believing they have the potential to do everything they’ve been exposed to in this camp.”
For more information about Saturday School, visit http://education.gsu.edu/saturdayschool.
