"School's TV Studio Has Many Benefits"

Monday, March 2, 2009
BY EVONNE COUTROS, NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER

The television studio at Emil A. Cavallini Middle School in Upper Saddle River is not the most high-tech in northern New Jersey, but the students say the experience of producing stories and interviewing people in the community is what counts.

"I definitely didn't think I'd be able to talk in front of the camera," said Brennan Corriston, 13, a Cavallini journalist who recently interviewed a wounded Iraq War veteran for the station. "I'd never done anything like that before. I'm definitely glad I did.” The Cavallini station and its daily morning show went live in the school last October with $30,000 of funding obtained through the Upper Saddle River Education Foundation and $5,000 raised by students.

Old VHS equipment was replaced by six digital cameras that cost $700 a piece, and audio and visual equipment was bought or upgraded. The station added a few $99 video cameras that it will use to highlight remote events, such as a morning kickball tournament that would air when the show goes live at 8:03 a.m.

"The studio is very important educationally for the school," said Cavallini School Principal Gene M. Solomon. "School spirit has just skyrocketed."

The station's content has raised awareness of events beyond the school, she said. The town historian has been interviewed, as have a fireman and a teacher/pilot who explained the safe landing of Flight 1549 on the Hudson River.

Bruce Reicher, Cavallini's computer applications teacher, has taught the elective television studio course for two years and hopes to build on student interest.   "Everything is student-produced, and what we're highlighting is the students and the community," Reicher said. "The school and the town have a ton of stories to tell. We brainstorm on stories with teachers."

Brennan, president of the school student body, is one of 20 in the class who has rotated from job to job.  "You see what everybody's really capable of … which is a lot," he said. "It's a really nice experience. It's incredible how much we have … incredible we have this equipment so we can do this show every day."

Reicher is confident the studio will build its digital network in coming years. "It's a YouTube generation, a Google video generation," he said. "Students go home, and this is their world. We're just giving them those tools in school, and they'll use them for school projects. We infuse it into the curricula. This opens up different options for them."