Newbury Elementary School
Live daily news broadcasts
Fifth grade students make the news
Newbury Elementary School, located in Howell, New Jersey, uses Adobe® Visual Communicator® software to produce a live daily news broadcast watched by the student body and staff. Michael Falgares, teacher and executive producer of Newbury News at Newbury Elementary School, oversees fifth grade students as they use Visual Communicator to produce live daily news broadcasts. About 35 students are enrolled in the Newbury News program and rotate though various duties/assignments. Typically, ten students produce the morning news show broadcasted to the school's 500 students.
Falgares chose Visual Communicator as the school's broadcasting software for several reasons, "Students can learn the easy-to-use interface quickly, create professional-looking clips and shows in minutes, output live, and use chroma keying for that extra special touch of professionalism." The teachers at Newbury Elementary also benefit from the software's ease of use. "Many precious hours of prep work are saved for teachers because all that is needed are some simple clicks of the mouse and we are ready to air our show. The user-friendly program saves us time but still puts us on top," explains Falgares.
Falgares and his class uses the Director Tab feature to pause, skip, or advance the news show. This offers a great level of control and is especially helpful for broadcasting live programs like Newbury News. When asked what setup was needed for Newbury Elementary to begin producing news, Falgares simply stated, "Just a light and a green screen." However, Falgares eventually chose to enhance the Newbury Elementary studio by adding a larger backdrop, professional lights, and extra sound equipment.
The next step
Since Newbury News began airing, many administrators across the district and surrounding towns have stopped by to take a look at Falgares' program. Falgares plans to continue producing the Newbury News program and is also looking forward to exploring post-production to create even more clips and movies.
