A new elective class called Broadcast Journalism will be offered to next year’s 10-12th graders. This class embodies live news reporting where students will be telling compelling news in a digestible and visually appealing way.
This idea was brought to light by our very own principal, Dr Steitz. As he used to be principal at Carlsbad High School, where they have a very successful broadcast program that has obtained national recognition, he gained the desire to have that available at Preuss. He first pitched the idea to a couple of teachers including Mrs. Garcia and Mr. Rocca, until Ms. Hannah Griffith, who teaches 8th grade English, agreed to take on instructing the class next school year.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have those same opportunities for our students to flourish here at Preuss!” expressed Dr. Steitz.
Although this class is an elective, it is classified as an A-G college preparatory class and counts towards students’ college credits. The class itself has roles such as reporter, editor, script writer, publisher, and camera operator, all skills Ms. Hannah would like future enrolled students to attempt all the available roles at least once. Once students know what they work best in, Ms. Hannah can then assign them the most suitable roles.
Even though the creation of this class is still very recent, Ms. Hannah already plans to start the course by teaching students about the foundation script writing and what works for live news.
“Our goal is to eventually have a morning broadcast every day,” stated Ms. Hannah
As working within the media industry is exactly Ms. Hannah’s passion, she is very thrilled to be teaching this class and is encouraging students to join. She believes that this is the perfect opportunity for students to voice their opinions on pressing issues, build their confidence, and create meaningful outside connections.
“I have a passion for media,” expresses Ms. Hannah. I see the value in using our own voices to promote diversity, to promote community, to call out the injustice in the world, that’s why I became a teacher to begin with.”
