THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607190202
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREG BURT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 103 lines
Summers at Lynnhaven Elementary School are normally uneventful, but last Wednesday hot, white lamps draped from ceiling panels and audio wires that weaved around miniature chairs transformed one of the classrooms into a film studio.
The Peace Corps had hired a film crew from New York to produce a commercial, and one of the school's teachers, Lillie Lindsay, was picked to play a starring role.
Becoming the poster child for the Peace Corps wasn't what Lindsay anticipated when she traveled to Jamaica as a teacher five years ago. But now, there she was teaching 12 of her students about the culture of this Caribbean island before the watchful eye of the camera and learning that making commercials isn't as easy at it looks.
``Move a little closer,'' said director Michael Craven, as the kids fidgeted under the hot lights. ``The cameras are going.''
The audio technician leaned his boom microphone over the heads of Lindsay and five of her students sitting around a table. From behind her, Lindsay grabbed a cloth Jamaican doll dressed in maroon overalls and straw hat and presented it to the children. Can you say ``Fahma Mon,'' Lindsay asked the children. ``Fahma Mon'' they responded. That's what people from Jamaica call a farmer, Lindsay explained.
As the cameras rolled, students asked questions and listened intently - most of the time. Some interruptions, for example, couldn't be avoided. Raymond Bell raised his hand and asked, ``Can I go to the bathroom.''
The all-day film shoot was part of a new nationwide advertising campaign for the Peace Corps that for the first time was highlighting the lives of average Peace Corps volunteers after their return home. Lindsay was chosen along with four others to represent some of the 140,000 Americans who have participated in the Peace Corps since its inception in 1961.
Peace Corps marketing director Steve Abbott said that 90 percent of returning Peace Corps volunteers get involved in community service in the years after their overseas experience. ``These are the type of people who will step forward and help the community,'' he said.
Lindsay was picked, Abbott said, not only because she was a successful teacher, but she actively incorporated things learned on her Peace Corps experience into her professional career. ``The things learned in Peace Corps are the same things you need to know in everyday life,'' Abbott said.
Lindsay will be part of a public service announcement to be aired on stations around the country, and she will be featured in a yearlong campaign using radio ads, direct mail, print ads and posters for college campuses and communities. Abbott expects the campaign to be in full force by the end of September.
Lindsay's decision to volunteer her teaching skills to the Peace Corps for two years ironically was inspired by a war. During the winter of 1991, her students where having to deal with the trauma and stress of having their parents involved in the Gulf War. Lindsay remembered thinking, ``I take peace for granted.''
She had considered joining the Peace Corps 10 years ago while earning her bachelor's degree in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, but the conditions just weren't right. It wasn't until two years after she received her master's degree in education from Hampton University and was working as a teacher at Fairfield Elementary School that she reconsidered the overseas service.
``I didn't own anything,'' Lindsay recalled, and getting her school loans deferred she knew wouldn't be a problem. The school district also offers its teachers 24 months of academic leave with a guaranteed job upon returning. ``The opportunity was there, and I had a desire to make a change,'' she said.
In July 1991, Lindsay traveled to Jamaica with 40 other educators. After receiving some training, she was placed in the capital city of Kingston and given two projects. The first involved teaching 15- to 20-year-old mentally retarded students home-life skills at the School of Hope. Her secondary work was with the Jamaica Society of the Blind. She made textbook audio tapes for blind students and developed tutorial programs for them.
``I learned a lot about myself,'' Lindsay said. ``We are kind of pampered as teachers in America. Jamaican teachers are creative with their limited resources.'' She remembers seeing teachers build things out of used boxes to put together their lesson plans.
Now, after three years of teaching a combination class of first- and second-graders at Lynnhaven Elementary School, her stay in Jamaica is still having an effect on her students. ``She is an excellent teacher and she brings her global experience into the classroom,'' said Lynnhaven Elementary School principal Linda Hayes. ``We are just glad that she is getting recognized.''
Under the bright lights and with air conditioners cut off to eliminate background noise, Lindsay's students didn't last long in the stuffy classroom Wednesday. Breaks were a must. Students filed out of the makeshift film studio and lined up at the drinking fountain.
Despite the heat, the youngsters were excited about sharing the television spotlight with their teacher.
``I can't wait to see me on TV,'' said 8-year-old Max Ward. ``This is my first time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
A clapboard starts a scene for a commercial that the Peace Corps is
filming of Lynnhaven Elementary teacher Lillie Lindsay and some of
her students.
Lillie Lindsay was chosen for the Peace Corps commercial because she
actively incorporated things learned on her Peace Corps experience
five years ago in Jamaica into her professional career.
Photo
Steve Abbott: Peace Corps marketing director by CNB