Students take on news beat
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ST. IGNATIUS – In an effort to keep people informed, the kids at Glacier Lake School created a news channel.
“We’ve got all kinds of interesting things,” said Gabe Moxness, news anchor of the weekly broadcast published through YouTube.
Glacier Lake School News opens with background graphics and music like any good news station. The lineup includes local and national news, weather reports, and a bit of entertainment including a segment titled “When Your Feet Smell so Bad Your Cat Can’t Even …” The kids said folks will have to tune in to find out what that means, but it’s not all comic.
“We have information on the national election,” Moxness said. He also covered world sanitation issues in one of the past broadcasts.
Marina Pavlock-Kestner adds in the local news including information on the St. Ignatius Police Department and local events. Julian Schippers and Conner Ferril provide the weather report.
“We have a 50-50 chance of getting it right,” Schippers said, adding that he usually gives a bit of practical advice. “It’s cold outside. Wear a coat.”
Natalie Helser hosts a segment about mythical creatures.
“Last week was about dragons,” she said.
Many things were donated for the kids to start their news channel including a green screen for the background, which makes it easier for the editor to add in the graphics. A set of studio lights was donated, but the camera needed to be purchased. The school newsgroup borrowed the $700 from the school, and they’ve been fundraising to pay it back.
The news channel wouldn’t be complete without an editor, and Sariel Sandoval, 13, was tasked with that job. It takes her a couple hours to put each of the segments together through a computer program every week. She hopes to use her skills to become a photographer or movie editor someday.
“I fill in the background on the green screen and make it look newsy,” she said.
Sandoval found out how important her job is when she was late to school one day.
“They were scared the video wouldn’t get done,” she said.
The Glacier Lake School is based on what’s called a “democratic free approach” to learning, where the kids choose what they want to learn and the adults act as the guides on the side. The school is in its second year.
“We don’t all fit into the same way of learning,” said Ben Kestner, school founder. “This gives people options.”
The school is the only one of its kind in Montana, although several similar schools exist across the nation.
The school recently received a $1,000 grant from the Lake County Community Development Corporation for marketing purposes like updating their website to help bring in more students. More students mean more local jobs with additional teacher-guides, although they don’t want to grow too big.
Thirty-five students might be the cap, Kestner said. Twenty students currently attend the school, but he added that you never know what the future might bring.
