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Brent Zabel ’05
Alumni Spotlight
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BA multimedia teacher continually works to raise the bar for his students. BA alum Brent Zabel ’05 has been teaching at Bethlehem Academy for three years now. During his time at BA, he has taught biology, human biology, field biology, ecology, 7th grade technology, and 8th grade technology with a focus on astronomy. Mr. Zabel is known as a teacher that likes to incorporate as much technology into his lesson plans as possible. He feels that it is an excellent way to keep his students engaged in his classroom. Therefore, when BA was looking to offer multimedia and film study as elective courses, Mr. Zabel was the natural fit for the instructor.
create video newscasts which are then published online to the BA website, as well as to another information website called Sophia. The second is in the form of a film studies course where students explore different genres of film, such as silent films, horror, comedy, music videos and much more. They then create their own films.”
He likes teaching a class where students have the freedom to express themselves in a creative way using technology. They have requirements that must be met, but they are allowed to create projects that are meaningful to them and that cover Since those early days Mr. Zabel’s multopics that interest them. Mr. Zabel says timedia class has grown and morphed that he is continually surprised by the several times. “My original multimedia quality and creativity of the student work class consisted of making movies and and their desire to raise the bar higher exploring computer programs more in with each project, especially within the depth, but it lacked structure. It has now limitations of the equipment available. been restructured into two courses. One Most of the films are created using the is a multimedia course which resembles digital camera that comes with their lapa journalism class where students write tops. The video quality is rough, and it articles for the BA Star, and where they is difficult to record action footage.
Seeing the passion and desire for his students to go further in his multimedia and film studies classes, Mr. Zabel capitalized on a contest tip he received from Matt Slinger (BA’s chemistry and physics teacher) about a camera giveaway that was sponsored by Hickory Tech called “My Life My Internet.” He enlisted himself and his students to submit videos of how they use the internet in their daily lives. On February 14, Mr. Zabel was given the great news that his class had won six new digital video cameras! “These cameras will be extremely helpful for use in our multimedia and film study courses. Students will now be able to capture action events outside of the school, and the video quality will be much better!” Mr. Zabel’s goals for the class continue to grow each year. If he had a magic wand, he would love to have several other types of equipment to help this program grow. He would love to add things like a teleprompter for creating newscasts, up-to-date computer software Left: Mr. Zabel offers advice to Lizzie Roushar ’13, Hana Palmer ’13, and Nora Richie ’13 on how to edit their silent film during class.
Far left: Mr. Zabel offers advice to Sam Correll ’13 about how to capture the scene. Upper left: Sam Correll ’13, Dan Furey ’13 and Josh Wagner’13 film their dance moves for their music video in the library. Lower left: Jessie Nunez ’13 records a broadcast infront of the green screen in the very small science storage room. Studio space would be a welcome addition to Mr. Zabel’s program. Above: Andy Lauglin ’13 stars in the movie as Pinky, of “Pinky the Ghost from Pac-Man” for film editing and movie production, and a designated studio space where students can create high quality newscasts and films and not worry about any noise interruptions for other classes. Additional cameras and greenscreens for further special effects are other items from which the students would benefit. Who knows where the next Scorsese or Speilberg will come from!
building as my father, and additionally I am blessed to teach students who are so well mannered and well behaved. They always come to school with such positive attitudes and a willingness to learn new things. I push them to succeed, and they all rise to my high expectations. Lastly, I am blessed to teach with such great teachers and staff who devote so much time and effort to Bethlehem Academy.”
Mr. Zabel feels that in today’s society we are so connected to one another with the use of the internet and social media that a course like this is very important. Each day there are more and more jobs which demand that people be experienced with social media tools. Companies and businesses are constantly looking for people to help market their products through avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and a variety of other social networking sites. “I feel it is important for my students to develope these skills here at BA to be ready for the world ahead of them,” states Mr. Zabel.
When speaking about the great teachers of BA, he indicated the following to have had an impact on him. “Whether it was Mr. Hanson teaching me life skills
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would, in fact, one day be teaching here at BA. It has proven to be a rewarding experience for me. First, I get the privilege to work in the same
during football practice, Mrs. O’Connor triggering my synapses during anatomy, Mrs. Allen showing me that hard work does pay off, or Mrs. Kriechbaum showing me there is always time for prayer, I strongly believe that I carry a piece of all of them in me. They have all helped me become the teacher I am today.” We look forward to future creations from Mr. Zabel’s multimedia and film studies classes. If you would like to view some of the work that has been produced to date you can go to bacards.org/ page/2484.
Mr. Zabel’s additional accomplishments! Earlier this year Mr. Zabel was featured in an article from Sophia for his use of their website. Sophia had noticed that they were receiving a lot of hits on their website and decided to contact Mr. Zabel to see what he was doing. He told them that he was posting the school’s newspaper, the BA Star, on their site, as well as his science lessons. Another contest Mr. Zabel entered, after being alerted by Mr. Friesen ’86, was KSTC 45 and Toyota’s “Drive for Education” contest, for which Mr. Zabel wrote a 600 word essay explaining how he would use the money received to help enhance his field biology and ecology courses. His essay was one of 14 selected to win $2,500 cash prizes. Congrats and thank you to Mr. Zabel!
We share a common thread... That is BA. We want to share many stories of our alums and the paths that life is taking them. If you feel you know of someone who has an interesting story to tell, please contact us at advancement@bacards.org.