he laughs. “And it just went on from there… journal after journal after journal, with a focus on sports stories.”
AFS News Show The brainchild of AFS Upper School teacher Niall Hood and students Jesse Dougherty ’12 and Mike Washington ’11, the new AFS video News Show features sports, entertainment,
“We began with a marathon training session on iMovie,” says Niall. “We had a successful first run, but the students are anxious to include more interviews, and they’re still developing their style and working harder at finding the story.”
current issues—especially as they relate to the AFS community—and more, and has quickly drawn the interest of many Upper School students. Niall and AFS Director of Technology John Rison are executive producers.
Middle School Blog A group of enthusiastic and dedicated Middle School students has started its own blog, Middle School Reports. Through the blog, whose members meet as a lunchtime activity led by 7th grader Grace Armstrong, the students chronicle life in Middle School and promote conversation around issues of topical interest. The blog also includes an advice column, where fellow students can share problems and gain advice from their peers on navigating the complexities of middle school life. Grace was inspired to start the blog when a teacher gave her the book The Landry News, which tells the tale of a young student who starts a school newspaper. “Originally, my idea was to use paper and post it. Rachel Kane suggested I start a blog. I want to write stuff that's newsworthy and I want this to be a place where kids can express their feelings in blog form.”
12
AFS UPFRONT
As an aspiring journalist Jesse Dougherty has been interested in writing since the second grade. “I remember I was the first kid in my class to fill up my writer’s journal,”
Mike Washington’s interest started a bit later. His eighth grade independent study project highlighted his interviewing skills, and during his sophomore year he attended a journalism workshop at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mike is planning to major in the field next year at college. Asked how he felt about seeing himself on the big screen, Mike joked, “Well, I realized I really needed a haircut badly, but seriously, the experience helped me begin to really picture myself in the broadcasting field as well.” Niall sees the show as an early step towards developing a larger multi-media presence within the AFS community. “There are a lot of different ways to tell a story,” says John Rison. “And I’m enjoying the fact that we’re figuring this out together. It’s a real example of teachers and students working side by side teaching and learning from one another. The students are very invested.”