Students Make News With Live Broadcast at School

The production may not have been quite as slick as the typical network news program, but the enthusiasm of the first-graders at Tustin Ranch Elementary who broadcast a live show to their schoolmates Wednesday morning easily made up for any lack of experience.

With teacher Eva Arrington directing them, the 27 first-grade students beamed as they waited to step in front of the camera, which sent their images through the school’s state-of-the-art multimedia system to each classroom.

Every student had a moment in the spotlight during “Pup News,” named for the offspring of the coyote, the school’s mascot. Among the reports from anchors, meteorologists and movie reviewers, there were even commercials.

“I got to start the news!” exclaimed Lino Valdivia, 7, after saying ‘Good morning’ and delivering the show’s opening lines.

Though he had never sat in an anchor’s chair before, Lino said, he wasn’t nervous because he knew what he had to do. “Sometimes I watch the ‘Eyewitness News,’ ” he explained.

Arrington, who looked every bit the director in a yellow beret and red silk scarf, said she gave students the freedom to choose topics “that were relevant to them.”

Those included a preview of the day’s cafeteria menu (spaghetti with rolls), a profile of the class’ artists of the month (painter Claude Monet and composer Johann Sebastian Bach) and a report on an upcoming field trip to Irvine Ranch.

Weather anchor Rachel Dowers and her assistant, Kenny Montiel, researched the day’s weather conditions themselves to deliver their report. “Foggy and 78 degrees in Tustin Ranch,” Rachel proclaimed confidently.

Other features included a glowing review of the movie “Muppet Treasure Island,” with a guest appearance by Kermit the Frog; and a group song, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” from the film “Mary Poppins.”

The camera work, sound and other production tasks were handled by fifth-graders who broadcast a news program at the school each Friday.

Arrington said she came up with the idea for a live news show as an alternative to the usual play or stage performance. The media networking capabilities of Tustin Ranch, which opened last fall as the school district’s technology model school, made it possible.

“It’s things like this that they’ll never forget,” said school Principal Connie Smith, who was interviewed for the show by Daniel Israel about her recent maternity leave and 3-month-old child. “Years from now they’ll remember doing ‘Pup News.’ ”