From having their first go at camera operation to getting settled in pre-production, 17 young producers in Beacon are off to a great start creating an exemplar video for The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies’ “Data Jam Competition”. This is an exciting collaboration, where students learn to interpret and create stories using scientific data sets, and then illustrate those stories through filmmaking and art (learn more here).
This group of creative middle-school students completed the first week of our Beacon FRAME after school program, held at the Howland Public Library. This free program provides young people the opportunity to learn all stages of the media production process while working on a project for a community client, The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
A visit from Michelle Forster, Education Program Leader at the Cary Institute, helped set students up to analyze environmental data sets and make graphs and scatter plots to identify a common trend they could use to build a story. Rosellen Hardt, a seventh science grade teacher from the Wappingers School District, helped students with interpreting these documents and finding the story to tell.
At the end of the week, students were asked to present a possible story created by interpreting the data sets. These young creatives recorded their presentation, allowing them to practice camera operation and public speaking. And some students got quite innovative!
This upcoming week, students will watch these videos and make a decision about a trend to move forward with. That decision will inform the story the class will tell and lead them closer to the completion of their final project.
Beacon FRAME runs through March 8. Stay tuned to hear more about this program!
