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Dragon News Network keeps Wheat Ridge school community informed
By Nissa LaPoint
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Photo by James Baca/DCR |
Recording from Studio 3920, it’s the Dragon News Network.
School classmates Mason Hagaman, 14, and Abbey Riddle, 13, just finished adjusting their posture, massaging their cheek muscles and repeating “watermelons” and “lemons” before recording from their school studio, located at 3920 Pierce St. in Wheat Ridge.
“Good morning Sts. Peter and Paul students and faculty. Today is Thursday, Nov. 4, 2011. Please stand for the prayer and pledge,” Riddle said to the camera while reading from a teleprompter.
About three times a week, parents and students from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of Sts. Peter and Paul School work together to produce a broadcast of their morning prayer and Pledge of Allegiance followed by school, sports and event announcements and on-location interviews.
“I don’t know of any other school in the archdiocese that does this,” Principal Kathleen Byrnes said.
Studio 3920, named after the numbers in the school’s address, is recorded in a locker room-turned-high-tech studio and broadcast at 8 a.m. in every classroom.
“The students get an opportunity to learn the anchor side of broadcasting and the technological side of it,” said Mike Mason, who manages the Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita and is a parent of two students at the school.
Mason developed the idea and was instrumental in starting the school studio that he said he hopes will build community and give students an opportunity to learn skills in preparation for high school and future careers.
“The first time I was shaking,” Riddle said about when she first anchored. “But it’s been fun.”
With co-anchor Hagaman, she’s since advanced her speaking skills, interviewing abilities and developed a knack for on-camera techniques. Mason’s daughter, 12-year-old Nicole Mason, has learned how to use the technology in the studio.
After his work day, Mason will come to the school and work with parents Ken Reed and Jennifer Spaeth, a voice-over specialist, to record with students for the next day’s school broadcast.
The approximately 20 students who applied to join the DNN will alternate days to spend 20 minutes after school to make a five-minute broadcast. The broadcast is then projected via SMART boards onto classroom walls and viewed by faculty and students in the morning.
These news broadcasts are later loaded onto the school’s website (www.sppscatholic.com), its Facebook page and made available for viewing on cell phones so parents and others may watch, Mason said.
The broadcasts have featured footage of the school’s “Race for Education,” annual talent show and interviews with this year’s new teachers.
“I got to meet some of the staff that I wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise,” Spaeth said about the benefits of volunteering for the DNN. It’s also made it possible for other parents and students in all grades to become better acquainted with each other, she added.
Plans are under way to try new types of broadcasts and include students from all grades.
Karen Nussman’s second-grade class was recorded saying the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be used in a future broadcast.
“It’s going to be so cute,” Spaeth said. “I can’t wait to see that in the production.”
The first broadcast was Aug. 30, Mason said, but he began setting up the studio before the school year began. He fronted some funds and got some donations for the studio equipment that includes a green screen, teleprompter, a soundboard, computer and studio lights. Auction proceeds from the school’s “A Night to Remember” fundraiser paid for many costs.
Instead of making announcements over the intercom, students use the broadcast to announce when the sports teams will practice, what will be served for lunch, information about photo retakes and who is celebrating a birthday.
The students end the broadcast with the same message:
“Remember, keep a smile on your face, your mind on your studies, and your prayer in your heart.”
Archdiocesan photographer featured in Dragon News Network interview
By Julie Filby
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Pictured Above: |
Students at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Wheat Ridge watched a special interview Nov. 9 of award-winning Denver Catholic Register newspaper and Archdiocese of Denver photographer James Baca, who shared stories of his work with Blessed Pope John Paul II and international icons like Blessed Mother Teresa.
Some of Baca’s most famous photographs of President Bill Clinton and the late pope were displayed on the Dragon News Network, a school broadcast run by students and parents, while Sister Faustina Deppe, O.C.D. asked Baca for words of wisdom and advice for students.
The interview is online at www.sppscatholic.com under the link “Special Announcements.”
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