Grade 6 students at Gault Institute have been working really hard to report on school events and activities as the award-winning broadcast team behind the Eagle Eye Newsroom.
The two Grade 6 classes began talking about starting a newsroom and planning the roles and responsibilities after Christmas, and began recording and editing the first episode after March break.
The project was developed by teachers Jennifer LeMesurier and Anik Bernard. Every student has a role, including anchors, reporters, writers, a camera crew, editors, and producers.
Different teams of students worked to come up with an intro for the newscast, and then teams of writers come up with the subjects. Reporters read the scripts and do interviews on camera, and the anchors introduce the different segments and stories. Each episode is posted to the school’s social media.
The newsroom focuses on positive news. Stories that have been featured so far include leadership projects, sports, school activities, upcoming events, and news about school life. “Informing the students and parents is important because it updates them on upcoming events and it gives them a better look at what is going on in their child’s classroom,” said two students in Grade 6, who work as anchors.
“So, we were thinking, how do we make the other classrooms aware of what’s happening, so we are not living isolated from each other, but we are more of a community?” said Principal Anick Leclerc. “The more innovative the idea, the more creative the project, we feel the better it is going to be for the students,” she added.
To make the project work, students needed space to work, equipment, and the teachers needed to be released to help. The school bought a camera, microphones, a clapboard, stands, and other tools.
“I never expected it to look like this. I was so thrilled. It was shared on Facebook. It was the first glance I had seen, and I started to get phone calls,” said Principal Anick Leclerc. “There is nothing that pleases us more than to see our students shining,” she noted.
The newsroom is so good that they are now an award-winning team. The project was recognized at the local level during the 28th edition of the OSEntreprendre provincial entrepreneurship competition in the school category. It is one of 18 projects moving on to the provincial level in the cycle three primary category after winning at the regional level.
“Overall, the best part is watching the video after it is finished because we can see all of our efforts that we put into it,” said another Grade 6 student, who also works as an anchor. “We are excited to see our results at the national level with schools from across Quebec.”