Student-Made Videos Presented on 2-13-2013

Special Report from Jim Bennett, Roosevelt Alumni Association

Students at Roosevelt High School presented student-created videos at a program on Tuesday, February 11, 2013. Three videos were presented, followed by Q & A sessions with the student creators.

The videos are: 

 

"Stray Rescue" directed by Nicole Morris and Ciara Morrow

 

"One Step at a Time" directed by Jasma Steed, edited by Leondre Hill and Manal Hamed

 "What's That Smell?" directed and edited by Quinsonta Boyd

The project facilitators were from the Pentimento Project, and the program was made part of the afterschool program at Roosevelt. Mr. Charles Murphy, the school's AV teacher, also provided support for the program, and the presentation was made in the school's TV studio in rooms 036-042. More info about the Pentimento Project here: http://pentimento.tv/

I looked up the name "Pentimento". A pentimento (plural pentimenti) is an alteration in a painting, evidenced by traces of previous work, showing that the artist has changed his or her mind as to the composition during the process of painting. The word is Italian for repentance,from the verb pentirsi, meaning to repent.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentimento .

The three videos projects featured three diverse subjects. The first video, “Stray Rescue,” was about the Stray Rescue dog rescue facility in downtown St. Louis (2320 Pine Street), which takes in rescue dogs. The film featured the student film-makers interviewing a shelter employee.

The second video, “One Step at a Time,” was about a homeless settlement on the St. Louis riverfront and a shoe-string-funded employment project on the site. The video included some excellent interviewing of residents and the employment project organizer. The student creator explained in the Q & A session that she deliberately stayed out of the camera's view so that the focus would be on the subjects of the video.

"What's That Smell" was the third video, about the cafeteria food at RHS. It included the results of a survey of 60 students about the cafeteria food. After the film was shown, the directors of the cafeteria and the SLPS cafeteria director spoke regarding the survey and the changes to the food they are serving due to the new U.S. Department of Education regulations seeking to make school lunches healthier. The directors explained the requirements and said more changes would be taking place. The student creator explained that his view of the food being served changed a lot after he understood the "healthy eating" requirements that the district was trying to satisfy, and that he also understood that the diversity of students at RHS created a challenge, but that he was used to his grandmother's cooking which was the best. An audience member commented on the smell of baking buns that used to be common in the high schools, which would bring smiles to many an older alum. That seems to be a common happy remembrance.

I asked Mr. Murphy about the radio station call letters KRHS on a sign in the back room. He said that will be on shortly and it will be on the expanded band, 1700 AM KHZ. I looked on the web and it is not on thus far. He also mentioned the web site available on the SLPS web site.

Some photos from the event - top photo shows the student creator of the "What's That Smell" - Quinsonta Boyd - on the left and SLPS Food Service staff to the right.

The second photo shows adult facilitator from the Pentimento Project on the left and two student film makers to the right, including Jasma Steed, the student director.