Art on the news!

Does your school have a closed-circuit news station? Each of our district elementary schools features a small news studio, run by the kids with the help of a teacher. One of my schools broadcasts every other day, while the other school has a broadcast every morning, which all classrooms watch as part of their morning routine. For those students who run the station--from writing to filming, running the equipment to anchoring--it's a great creative outlet. And it's a big hit with the smaller kids, who get really excited to see their friends and siblings on the TV!

A few months ago, one of the building news crews approached me about doing a weekly art segment! We've been running it ever since, and it has been a great way to share student artwork with the entire school. Every week, one of the broadcasters comes to interview me (via a questionnaire sheet) and to take pictures. The kids came up with the questions, which typically include the following:

- What was the inspiration for this project?
- What materials were used? Were any special materials or techniques required?
- What did students find most difficult about this project?
- What did students like about this project?

The kids use my responses to create a script that the broadcasters use to do a voiceover as photos of the student artwork is shown. It is absolutely fabulous! Since starting it, many of my smaller students have commented on projects they've seen that they want to try, and my older kiddos get really pumped to see their artwork featured! I love everything about it, including the advocacy part--it's nice to know that kids and adults alike are hearing the 'why' and the 'how' behind all the beautiful art in the halls.

For next year, I want to come up with other art bits--maybe artist interviews where my Art Enrichment kids dress up as famous artists and get interviewed on the news live (!!!), or student artists talking about their own artwork.

Does your school do a news broadcast? Is student art ever a feature? I'd love to get more ideas!

You stay classy, Dillsburg!