OnTheParadeGround Congratulations

It is with great pride and enthusiasm that WPAA-TV Executive Director accepts the 1st Place Award for Diversity Empowerment on behalf of Penn’s Pals with a hope to be able to submit to this category every year from the annual creation & a collection of Wallingford stories.

She supported this effort as an OnTheParade Ground Volunteer.  Penn’s Pals is now being edited by an Intern from Middlesex Community College. All interns are automatically considered OnTheParadeGround Crew.

To join with others to make Community TV in Wallingford send a note of interest to wpaatv@gmail.com.

At WPAA-TV Interns are being added into the mix as part of community volunteers supporting citizens with their communication goals as members of OnTheParadeGround Crews. So consider being an Intern!!

Producer participation in Alliance for Community Media is also encouranged and underwritten by WPAA. 

There is a overall sense of pride about of all of the submissions that represent how far WPAA has come as a community building organization with entries from Citizen Mike, SCOW, Penn’s Pals in addition to ad hoc projects supported by the OnTheParadeGround crew:  (BAWA Health, Wallingford Community Theater, BenVentures, and Wallingford Chorus) and the very special Make-A-Difference TV Project “Sharing Joy“.

Our community once again is honored with a 1st place recognition of Penn’s Pals – Through Sophie’s Eyes’ in the category Diversity Empowerment.  Bravo.

Public Event TV: One Camera Shoot

Wallace Dam Fishway: Harry Haakonsen Dedication Video is complete.  I did not editorialize but I did edit the material presenting the nearly 2-hour event in 30 minutes, with a slight restructuring of the sequence of events.  I did give the project slightly more than one hour per minute of production attention.

I enjoyed creating the lower thirds shad tag and I leveraged several web page mastheads.

It was a refreshing event to attend. I know that there were years of effort to get Town’s cooperation for which there was ample credit bestowed and ironically, accepted. In reality, it was informing but agonizing to watch each new Town Council get briefed on the project’s value and to hear the same concerns about liability raised.
In the end, there are many proud volunteers and hope for an easier future for the several varieties of fish that swim home.  For this cause, I am not wearing the T-Shirt but it was rewarding to help tell the story via coverage of this Earth Day event.  Search Wallace Damn on the wpaa.tv calendar for playtimes between 4/25/12 and 5/20/12.  On VOD look for Wallace Dam Fishway Dedication.

  

Poetry Returns to Wallingford – at least for a day

As other teams before them, this year’s CT Teen Poetry Slam Team is making plans to go to San Franscisco, California to participate in Brave New Voices–Witness the Word 2012.  They will be using the WPAA-TV facility to workshop performance techniques and do a fundraising feature performance on April 14th at 8PM.  There is no charge for this performance: however, tax-deductible donations are welcome through their sponsor Piece Theatre.
Piece Theatre Founder and veteran performance poet Josiah Houston is this year’s team performance coach. Among other Performance and Poetry accolades, he was a member of the CT Teen Slam Team from 1999-2001. He has subsequently led a dramatic life journey through the world of theater arts,  the lessons from which he hopes may benefit this fine group of young Connecticut writers: Sera Pisani, Julie Ficks, Sophie Dillon, Maggie Kearney, Kate Bartell, and Evan Knoll.

I had the benefit of working with veteran thespian John Basinger for one day.  One day with him transformed my awareness of what was possible delivering off the page.  April 14th is designed to have the same potential for this team. A combination of good writing and performance is still a rare experience.  I hope the folks in the Wallingford area come out and enjoy this event.
Josiah

 

Saturday April 14th
8 PM
28 So Orchard St. 

Children Stories: 2 languages

The youth content Media Zone on WPAA is 5-8 AM and Saturdays 5 AM until Noon. The following locally produced children stories in Spanish & English will be scheduled in this zone often in 2012.  They can also be viewed on VOD via the links below.

BENventures: I Can Do It produced by local Children’s author Camila Gabriel with OTPG Support
These two Beatrice Potter Stories produced by SCOW the Spanish Community of Wallingford  with OTPG Support are also playing

The Story of Perico Rabbit – El Cuento De Perico El Conejo Tavieso : The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902)
The Story of Carlota Duck – El Cuento De La OCA Carlota: The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (1908)

Diversity: WPAA-TV Content

During Black History Month, WPAA-TV played a locally produced documentary film No Barriers Too High about Marcus McCraven, a remarkable story of achievement, excellence and accomplishment against enormous odds. It is also a contemporary story about a life lived which exemplifies the value of education and informs, by example, about the experience of race in America — that No Barrier is Too High.   

The inclusion of family among its strengths; with Stephen providing the drum track and the charming GPS behind the man description of Marguerite; this story which is to encourage our youth to consider education important also demonstrates the power of humility and perseverance.  When Andrew Young spoke at QU in 2003 he said and I paraphrase — Dr. King did not want to be a martyr; he wanted then and now for us to be living our own stories about justice and the richness of life. Marcus certainly did just that.
QU ALUMNI REVIEW

Thanks to Wallingford’s Coalition for Unity for encouraging the pursuit of this acquisition by WPAA-TV. This program will be archived for replay next year. 

In March in coordination with SCOW and Deutsche Welle WPAA-TV will begin a regular schedule of Spanish Language News and Global News content initiated in Nov 2011 (scheduled between 6 and 7:30 PM Monday thru Friday if no Live local programming was in progress) will continue with the addition of a 1/2 of Science News at 7:30 PM.

2 hours of weekly Spanish Language Programs repeated 3 times a week: Tues midnight- 2 AM; Friday 8-10 PM; Sat. 10-Noon and streaming at www.wpaa.tv

Creating Community Television

Creating a Community Video Project is very much like starting a business.

You need to define the product, brand it, acquire resources to build it and the niche markets that will make it more than video in the vastness of the web and cable.

You also need to build the understanding among your community team that you are not going to develop ESPN Quality Products nor have the distribution of cable networks.

What you should strive for is authenticity.  Good luck.

Middle School and Digital Literacy

Last year to help fulfill the mission of the media center at WPAA-TV I became a middle school blog reader. The goal was to contribute to improving young bloggers’ digital literacy. It turns out that blog communication, even with an educational agenda, becomes personal and transformative.

My blog rule: Do not blog like shampoo instructions: Lather. Rinse. Repeat thinking of shampooing as a rote, shallow act inclusive of unnecessary repetition.But a remix of this comment might be the opposite: Blog like a shampoo instruction: LATHER (a.k.a. learn) to get a visceral connection with the topic at hand. RINSE to separate the results from the residue and REPEAT linking to informative original sources, whenever possible.


Representative comments sans original post follow to give a flavor of the media literacy experience.
 
Social Studies Reports?

  • very well organized with nice transitions & commentary between interviews. Observation: While you give the illusion of getting 1st hand accounts to get to ‘the truth’ your presentation does conclude with an inference rather than a fact. Nice Job!!
  • Did you notice the copyright symbol in the picture you used for the Cherry Tree? Did you know what this digital symbol tells you about the use of this picture by anyone other than …
  • Your blog comment that struck me most was ‘I am learning new things about my self.’ I also like the enthusiasm in the essay about John Hancock. When I was your age, I remember thinking that writing one’s name so boldly was very courageous.

Many blogs had huge picture inserts: Not all.

Blogging can be done in a few styles: You seem to blog like Broadcast News getting some key ideas into short posts. Most Bloggers tend to be less like traditional media. Do you use small images because as a blogger you have an understanding of the ‘math’ associated with image size? If Yes, Bravo.
 
From the norm:
Your blog title makes me think you might like this online magazine. Did you ever think about what it takes to create an online game, or what makes you bored? When my daughter was 13 she often said like you, I’m bored. My reply was You own that. At 21 she is a fascinating person to talk to. She turned bored on its head. The Internet is a great tool for that…
 
To the outliers:
Your comment on statistics (a challenging word to use correctly) is actually a hypothesis on the reason for a data trend. Statistical data is most typically a point in time. Several points in time can be used to interpret ‘change’. If a change has a pattern then it can be considered a trend. The possible causes for the trend would then be explained by less numerical data: like younger users, more social network opportunities. Good Job!
 

On the Passing of Steve Jobs most students copied and applauded the Think Different campaign text ‘here’s to the crazy ..; however, the topic enabled some dialogue:
·
  • Your posts are thoughtful commentary. They show that you saw Steve Jobs as a visionary and designer rather than an inventor, engineer. He needed to engage inventors & engineers persuasively to realize his visions.
  • What you know about computers today will be different tomorrow … when I 1st used computers it took a room the size of my desk to be as powerful as the one on my desk today. Cards with punch holes feed the computer. Some basic ideas are the same today as the use of binary data, the more data you have the better chance you have of finding a solution, and the learning is connected to prior learning.
  • Many people who have not gone to college are successful. Going to college expands your opportunities to learn things, as does trade school … College helps confirm your ability to learn to future employers…but it is important to remember that ‘it is what you do, with what you know’ that will make the difference… like Steve Jobs shows us.
  • It took lots of 1st to make today’s computers. First programmable computer the Z1 dates back to 1938 followed by the first electric programmable computer- 1943Then there is the first digital computer-1973, first microprocessor – 1971, first personal computer -1975, first laptop/portable computer- 1975. Then in 1976, Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I computer, not Steve Jobs.
  • Did you know that a team of engineers and interface designers (Jon Rubinstein, Jonathan Ive, Toney Fadell, Michael Dhuey, Tim Wasko) in a project overseen by Steve Jobs designed the iPod based on technology developed decades earlier in England? Design is often redesigning and the work of teams. REPLY: … Wow. That’s so interesting. … (chat continues) I believe this blog video entry will be very informative on this topic of technology evolving by copying. About.com is a good tool for increasing what you need to know about a subject. If you ask “who invented the iPod’ you will get a few links with the story. ’til next time.
  • My 80-year-old dad said, “It is confusing with all these food words being attached to gadgets”. Do you know why the word Apple was chosen as the computer name? This one became a chat with the student assertively replying: It is because the apple represents education. I think that is what most people assume. This link has some information on company names. But a more reliable source would this link. Finding reliable sources, those you can trust, is one of the challenges the Internet.
What is your Digital Dossier?
  • It is great that the Digital Dossier video made you think about how you use the Internet but there is a good side to data. Try to think about the purpose of data when sharing it. For example, Blood Type can be on drivers licenses. It is optional, but it can save lives, including your own
  • Now that you know about the digital footprint, will you walk the web differently?

Links & Images:

·     This is a very informative graphic. Did you consider linking to it? Did you know you can link to images on a page?
·      Interesting that your blog has some of the shortest posts but you call the blog EPIC. I am impressed that you linked to the ‘crazy, misfits, change the world’ quote instead of repeating it which is a good use of a hyperlink. Bravo! Now let’s get EPIC.
·     Knowing more than one language is always a gift. As Bangla is not as commonly known as English or Spanish. This provided a good opportunity to link to a site that told something about it being the official language of Bangladesh. Linking is a great tool for bloggers.
~~
In conclusion: There were 82 blogs.  I spent approx 10 hours a week reading & commenting.  Sometimes in the wee hours as my spelling sometimes attests.  My appreciation of Middle School teachers grew with one in particular deserving Kudos. I blog here out of a desire to make reflective connections. This entry is not on my personal blog because it represents my efforts as an OtPG volunteer. 

 

 

RecipEtc for AGRItude

RecipEtc [res-uh-pees]: Several methods to attain success with ingredients, directions and knowledgeable variations

AGRItude: A positive awareness and attitude about food and the systems that provide food.

                              ~ ~ ~
2012 Project: Develop a regularly scheduled community media program that provides timely, quality amplification of what at is already being done independently in the area of better food choices and sustainable local farming. Food is at the core of building relationships and there are many mini-stories that can be informing and done with video

Goal: create a make a difference Community TV program that
  1. can help anyone and everyone in Wallingford (and beyond)
  2. demonstrates the value of this under (nearly unused) community resource of Community TV
  3. has inter-generational participation in food stories and TV production
  4. gives back to participants more than what they contribute (good-will, awareness, community service credit for HS students, internships for College students)
  5. builds community around a powerful idea – sustainable food systems through informed food choices

Needed: AGRItude Coaches 

local people with expertise & passion for farming & food topics whose informing conversations can help others make better choices about food; and meaningful connections between farming, gardening, food, health, environment and community.

The tools for making TV are available to Wallingford residents at WPAA-TV 28 So. Orchard St. for free; but Community TV is about more than how to use a camera or edit a video; it is about passion. It takes passion for an idea, and interest in sharing opinions and expertise that makes for good content.

If you are interested in participating in this project send a note to otpg@comcast.net

2012 — seeds of change

In 2009, a few of us experimented with format and crew development. We completed programs for 6 non-profit/community organizations. The intiative was then interrupted by the evolution of WPAA into a media center (new building/location); and the crew was distracted by the creation of studioW (which is now a Piece Theatre project) and general skills retooling.
In 2010 there was an program development idea mentioned here about discovering our local farms with the storyline of Farming remains a cornerstone in Wallingford, Connecticut as it links the past to the future. (This idea has some footage, but no product.)
In 2011, the OTPG Free Speech Week documentary video did get 1st place kudoes at ACM NE. We also used 2009 footage for some PSAs and did a follow-up project with Seniors Have Dreams, Too and continued to re-tool.
In 2012, we are restarting OTPG but not as the program with that name.  A local production crew will use this name OnTheParadeGround name and the spirit it implies partnering with local resources to produce content that features localism that makes a difference one person at a time.
Today I found the 2010 story line here on the website of a local farm. So this farmer and some other content experts are being invited to making TV again on Mondays. I hope that by telling Wallingford stories and having informed conversations with locals who are passionate about sustainable food systems I will be just one individual that can begin a positive food story of my own. Posted by the remaining crew person – adele.