Two teachers at Letcher County Central High School, Mrs. Rebecca Potter and Dr. Michael Melton, received ARI Innovation Grants from KVEC this school year. Both grants focused on creating a documentary entitled “Piling Up Stones: A Collection of Mountain Memories”, highlighting people in the community. Mrs. Potter’s proposal focused on the required hardware (camera, tripod, external microphone, external hard drive), while Dr. Melton’s grant focused on the appropriate software (Adobe Creative Cloud) and the transportation costs for travel to interview community members.
Students were informed about the grant requirements before the introduction of lessons on interviewing techniques, cinematography, visual and audio perspective. The students brainstormed future interview questions and themes. These concepts were addressed as they worked on their regular journalism assignments: visual media production, caption writing, embedding and editing video and audio tracks, researching, and intellectual property. Assistance in explaining the concepts to the students was delivered by Ms. Willa Johnson (KVEC). She also encouraged them to develop their interpersonal skills and go out of their comfort zone to become acquainted with complete strangers.
The class began writing articles, producing videos, and creating photo essays for The Holler. As students’ skills increased, people began to notice. National Youth Radio invited a senior journalism student, Hannah Adams, to write a piece about the presidential election. Her piece was featured on NPR’s Here and Now program. Teachers in the school began asking these journalism students to do videography for their classes. The 21st century skills the students have acquired will be beneficial in their college careers. They have acquired the knowledge to manipulate digital media and have been introduced to the skills necessary to be successful in journalism, film-making, and visual performance. These skills will be valuable in any career choice.
Rebecca Potter and Dr. Michael Melton—Letcher County Central High School, Letcher County
