KUNA, Idaho — Students and staff at Kuna High School get their school announcements every day in the form of a pre-produced video.
It all starts earlier in the day in Kat Campbell's broadcasting class.
"I just love interacting and giving them the knowledge I have," Campbell said.
After the scripts are written, Campbell's students set up the lights, the microphones, and the camera. The anchor sits in front of the green screen, the director counts down and cues him to start reading the announcements.
"Good afternoon from the Cave. Today is Monday, April 29 and it's an A day," the anchor says.
After the announcements are recorded, the raw video is shuttled to the computer lab across the hall where junior Braden Sielaff edits it.
"We usually just roll with a background, our generic background. It's a little K spinning around our little Kuna logo," Sielaff said.
This day's announcement even includes a sports interview with a member of the Kuna girl's golf team.
Sielaff enjoys the process of editing it all together.
"Just that it can kind of help me branch out into the field I want to go into because I want to be a video editor," Sielaff said.
Sophomore Elliot Middleton enjoys the process, too.
"I love just being involved in the video, whether that's being the camera person, being on camera, just including the camera," Middleton said.
The broadcasting program is only in its second year at Kuna High.
"They put a lot of faith in me and they've let me start the program," Campbell said. So it's really exciting."
Campbell worked for 14 years in local TV news and video production before becoming a full-time teacher. So she knows how to pass on the pace of a professional news operation.
"I think them (her students) getting the real world experience, knowing how to work with deadlines, be on time," Campbell said.
"She's fun and then she can also get on your butt pretty hard, which is nice because it gets you used to the workforce," Braden Sielaff said.
Campbell says the students involved in Kaveman Productions even produce videos for the district.
Those include one for an anti-bullying / kindness campaign, highlights of the high school's huge Veterans Day assembly, even an informational video about the supplemental levy voters approved back on March 12.
It is a valuable, hands-on experience that's impacting the students. Elliot Middleton is considering this as a career.
"Yeah, for sure. It's either nursing or this," Middleton said. "I'm kind of leaning more toward this."
Campbell pushes the kids, but they push her, too.
"It's really cool when I teach them something and say this is how you do it, and then they come and they get really excited and they're like ok I know you taught us to do it this way, but we've learned a quicker way or a better way, and I'm like oh my gosh teach me. That's cool," Campbell said.
Kat Campbell is this week's Innovative Educator.
"It's not really even a job, I don't think," Campbell said. "I just love being here every single day."
If you'd like to nominate a teacher as an Innovative Educator, you can email us at innovativeeducator@ktvb.com.
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