
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704130044

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   95 lines

CHURCHLAND ELEMENTARY STUDENTS PUT REPORTING TALENTS ON THE AIR

Sherri Barnes, a Churchland Elementary School fourth-grader, had just wrapped up her report on one of the day's top stories: An Easter egg hunt that Ms. Carmines' kindergartners had taken part in before spring break.

The piece ended with a prerecorded video clip showing students scrambling about in the school's front yard, gleefully looking here and there for the colored orbs. Sherri then handed things off to Elizabeth McFadden.

And Elizabeth - in a cool, fifth-grader's way - started to sign off. ``Believe in yourself, empower yourself, stand up for yourself and trust in yourself,'' she said.

But anchor Andrew Benfield, picking up on a glitch, wouldn't let his partner end the show. ``Oh, sorry. We seem to be having technical difficulties. Here are today's announcements. . . !''

Jacob Pennington, a 9-year-old ``trainer'' and sometime reporter, slapped his hand against his forehead. Close call!

Things don't always go as planned on the set of Tiger News, the school's semiweekly news show that replaces regular intercom announcements Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

But giving students a chance to report on events and ``produce'' the live show - broadcast into classrooms throughout the school over a closed-circuit TV system - has helped them become ``media literate'' and more critical consumers of the real-life variety, educators say.

Such projects have grown increasingly popular in public schools, especially as the hours of children's daily television viewing have increased in recent decades.

``When Tuesdays and Thursdays roll around, they're so excited they can't stand it,'' said school librarian Helen Sissel.

``I've seen a big difference in their writing skills; how they've become even more responsible; how they follow through on things and make sure things are done on time; and how they ask more questions about what they see on TV - and then try to get answers,'' she said.

Sissel started the project in January, initially as a six-week, after-school enrichment activity for motivated students.

The first group of fourth- and fifth-graders learned the nuts and bolts on everything from using the video camcorder to writing scripts to working the controls that zap the nearly 20-minute broadcast into classrooms.

The school soon had a hit on its hands.

At this point, Sissel seldom needs to step in because students have the hang of things.

The ``studio'' is a room adjacent to the main library. Anchors sit behind a wooden table covered with a piece of white moire.

A white banner with the school's mascot, an orange-and-black-striped tiger, hangs above the desk.

The students, primarily selected by teachers for the activity, have various roles.

There are anchors, reporters, weather people, an assistant news director and a host of support staffers. They're big on teamwork.

Special guests often stop by for on-air interviews. Even Principal Betty Bartlett has been in the Tiger News hot seat.

``I wanted to do it to inform other students,'' said anchor Andrew Benfield, 10, decked out in a tie and jacket one recent morning.

``It's important to be involved in this so the other kids aren't going around wondering, `Like, what's this? Who had what?' '' at school. ``And it teaches us responsibility, how to be organized.''

The fact that what makes the news often boils down to personal preference also has not been lost on the students.

``I was going to do a report on Nintendo 64 (a computer video game system) was,'' Jacob Pennington said.

``But we can do that any time. It wasn't like it was happening. Not like an Easter story or something.''

Supporters of such initiatives said so much attention hasn't been paid to media-related education since the 1970s, when the federal government linked excessive TV viewing and antisocial behavior.

In Norfolk, Willard Model School has put on a televised, monthly student talk show for the past several years.

Northampton County's Kiptopeke Elementary also has a news show similar to that at Churchland.

``It's definitely made the students involved, and the students who watch the show, more aware of the world around them,'' said Gwyn Coghill, a Kiptopeke co-principal.

Professor Gary Edgerton, chairman of Old Dominion University's Department of Communication and Theater Arts, said such efforts can be valuable.

``It's great,'' he said, ``because it gives kids an opportunity to move from the position of being passive viewers.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos

JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot

Churchland Elementary School librarian Helen Sissel, who started the

school semiweekly news show project, records the weather reports of

reporters Jayson Fermin and Mark Larrick for broadcast.

Steven Pyle, a sports reporter on the Tiger News, offers a weekly

newscast on the Hampton Roads Admirals. The staff includes anchors,

reporters, weather people, an assistant news director and a host of

support staffers. They're big on teamwork.