TEACHER ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS SOUGHT
Education has always been a central focus of Northern Berkshire Community Television Corporation’s outreach in the community. NBCTC works with residents of Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Savoy, and North Adams to produce television shows that focus on educational activities in the school systems. In order to provide the most insightful and helpful services to local schools, it is critical that NBCTC now enlist the assistance of educators, from each of the school systems within its coverage area, to guide NBCTC in developing a comprehensive Educational Plan. NBCTC has received funding from The William J. & Margery S. Barrett Fund and The James and Robert Hardman Fund for North Adams of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation to support the creation of a Teacher Advisory Council.
The council will be composed of two representatives from each school. Individuals need not be familiar with the technical side of television production; they just need to have an eagerness to work with NBCTC. The grant funding will make it possible to provide teachers with a stipend of $150 to attend council sessions.
Teachers will meet for three full sessions, each session lasting three hours. Prior to attending the first meeting, participants will receive a series of materials outlining goals and procedures for the council sessions. This packet will also include a survey that participants will fill out in advance of the first session; teacher responses will provide an outline to guide the committee sessions. The actual sessions (to be held at NBCTC, refreshments provided) will occur between March and May 2008, likely one a month, depending on schedules and weather. The final project of the sessions will be a detailed three-year Educational Plan for collaboration between the school systems and NBCTC.
The first session will begin with an analytical recap of the surveys and then expand into a discussion of priorities for the council. The next two sessions will be more narrowly focused, depending on teacher responses from the surveys and the first session. The later sessions may focus on specific topics, grade level issues, or school districts, and teachers may work in smaller groups.
Teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and NBCTC have on numerous occasions expressed the desire to develop a stronger working relationship, but time and the demands of daily activity have prevented an overall approach. By creating a district wide discussion vehicle, this goal becomes a reality. Let’s celebrate together all the wonderful work taking place in our schools!
For further information, or to register for the council contact:
Joanne Hurlbut, Educational Access Coordinator at
413-663-9006, or e-mail: nobctv@bcn.net
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:
MARCH 12, 2008
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NORTHERN BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY TELEVISION’S
STUDENT VIDEO COMPETITION--2007
WINNERS!
Technology, television, and talented students are a regular part of today’s society. In an effort to make those intersections more available to the local populace, Northern Berkshire Community Television held its first ever Student Video Competition in 2007. Local students responded to the call for entries with a myriad of quality productions.
Entries were sought in two categories, a One Minute PSA (Public Service Announcement) and a Five minute Short. Students were invited to let their imaginations and creativity run wild, and they did just that! Their responses were many faceted and ran the gamut from school happenings, to poems, to musical numbers, to serious subjects.
First place for the One Minute PSA went to Josh Gardner of Adams for his animated claymation Drunk Driving. Second place went to the 2nd & 3rd Grade Classes from Savoy for Swan Song.
First place for the Five minute Short went to Thomas Jayko, Connor Chaput and the 6th Grade Class from Cheshire for Scenes from Cheshire Elementary. Second place went to the 4th and 5th Grade Classes from Savoy for Learn to Play the Ukulele.
All winners received award certificates. In addition, First place winners received $100 and Second place winners received $75.
Honorable mention went to Evan Francis Peter Gardzina of North Adams for An Educational Interview.
The winning 1st and 2nd place entries are being edited into a collage and will be shown on Channel 16 on:
Mondays, January 28 and February 4 at 5 pm,
Wednesdays, January 30 and February 6 at 7 pm,
Saturdays, February 2 and 9 at 9 am.
NBCTC looks forward to its 2008 competition, which will be held in the fall. For further information please check out the website www.nbctc.org, or, contact NBCTC at 413-663-9006, or e-mail us at nobctv@bcn.net.