Senn High School Field Trip
| January 8, 2016 |
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Photos by Jonathon Vera
Students from Chicago鈥檚 Senn High School experienced what it鈥檚 like being a television news reporter during a recent field trip to 草莓社区鈥檚 School of Communication.
Twenty five Senn students used professional video cameras and microphones to interview shoppers along the Magnificent Mile, just steps from the School of Communication鈥檚 downtown Chicago campus.
The students also were recorded on camera reading news stories at the anchor desk of the School of Communication鈥檚 state-of-the-art convergence studio.
The students are part of Senn鈥檚 Digital Journalism program, a four-year International Baccalaureate curriculum designed to teach skills in reporting, writing and producing stories through digital technology.
Loyola鈥檚 School of Communication, with financial support from the McCormick Foundation, has been partnering with Senn for the past three years. School of Communication faculty and students regularly meet with teachers and students at Senn, helping with curriculum development, classroom instruction and equipment and technological support.
The field trip to Loyola鈥檚 School of Communication offered Senn students exposure to college-level instruction in digital journalism, said Michael Cullinane, the lead journalism instructor at Senn.
鈥淭he Senn students were up to the challenge to perform real interviews and broadcast reports just like the Loyola students would have to. They didn't hesitate to stop people for man-on-the-street interviews and conducted their Q and As with professionalism. A few of them told me that they'd like to be journalists in the future,鈥� Cullinane said.
The Senn students were excited to have the opportunity to visit the School of Communication.
鈥淚 loved getting to know what it鈥檚 like being behind the anchor desk,鈥� said Symone Smith, 16, a junior at Senn. 鈥淭here were so many great people at Loyola who taught us to use the technology. I could tell there was a passion there with the teachers.鈥�
Fellow student Kendall Jackson agreed.
鈥淚 enjoyed working behind the scenes with the cameras. I was impressed with the high level of the technology,鈥� said Jackson, 17, a Senn sophomore.
Don Heider, Dean of Loyola鈥檚 School of Communication, said the field trip is a high point of the Loyola-Senn partnership.
鈥淭he point of the program is get students exciting about journalism and I think when they visit Loyola, they can see the possibilities that going to college and working in journalism might offer them,鈥� Heider said. 鈥淭hey are a great group of students who are so enthusiastic and ready to learn.鈥�