Civic Spotlight

Focus on Community Giving

This page honors local organizations that help the community and its residents improve their lives. Each quarter a new organization will be honored.

This quarter Haverhill Bank honors:
Haverhill High School
Television Production Class

It’s lights, camera, action at Haverhill High School. Haverhill Bank is turning the Civic Spotlight of its Web page on the television class at the high school this quarter.

In the classroom, high school students are taught everything from writing a script to shooting a segment and editing the whole package together for broadcast on educational cable TV. Thanks to a generous $1,000 donation from Haverhill Bank, plans are currently being made for the construction of a new control room.

The new control room will be equipped with new equipment which will allow students to learn skills needed to produce professional quality segments for broadcast.

Shown are: Ashleigh Bergh and Dale Whittredge, Jr.

The television production class is taught by Robert Brandon, who brings his real life experience as a videographer to the classroom. Look for the work of high school students to be broadcast on the Haverhill Education Cable Channel 10.

Television production classes teach the students something much more valuable than just putting together a television program. Students learn the value of teamwork, project skills and the value of deadline, said Brandon.

“It also teaches students how to be responsible. There has to be trust from them to take out the equipment and use it outside of class,” he said.

With the renovations of the high school slowly getting finished, the television production class is now taught in a brand new open classroom. Eventually, a new control room will be built to one side, which will allow students to use multiple cameras more easily. And, when the control room is in place, the students will also be able to use headphones to speak to each other as they tape a program.

There is also a link between the production class and Haverhill Community Television. HCTV has pledged $100,000 for new equipment for the television class.

“We have to have a TV studio with a control room to get the grant,” said Brandon.

Students can take what they learn in the production class and use those skills at Haverhill Community Television. They can also apply skills taught at Haverhill Community Television to their television class.

In class, students must work together in teams of five to write a script. They then get use of a camera to shoot the script. The more advanced students will be allowed to go outside the classroom with cameras. Advanced students are allowed to go out and cover events ­ like school athletic competitions. The footage is taken back into the studio and edited for broadcast on local educational cable television.

The more advanced students are also expected to be able to use three cameras and incorporate that into a finished program. In addition to teaching a television production class, Brandon is also the advisor to the Videography Club. Any junior or senior is welcome to join. These students get to use school equipment and also produce television programs for broadcast on local educational cable.

There is strong link between Haverhill Community Television and the Haverhill High production class. Matt Belfiore, program director, and Brandon have a great connection. Brandon is a longtime volunteer at Haverhill Community Television. Belfiore welcomes high school students who want to work as volunteers at the HCTV.