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This fall, students in the Latino Studies class at Beloit Memorial High School had the unique opportunity to co-produce four short documentaries with PBS Wisconsin Education, connecting national issues to local Latino experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The documentaries are part of PBS Wisconsin Education\u2019s Hometown Stories: Youth Media project, which aims to help students connect to, research and share about underrepresented stories and identities in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PBS Wisconsin Education engagement specialist Nick Ostrem and producer Ian Glodich partnered with Beloit Memorial High School social studies teacher Kyle Walker to teach students about historical research and media production skills. Over just nine weeks, students conducted research, wrote scripts, filmed interviews and recorded voice-overs for their mini-documentaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was a once-in-a-lifetime event for my students, something I know they are going to remember forever and be very proud of what they did,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Walker, a highlight was taking students to the Wisconsin Historical Society to conduct research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey got to interact with documents from as early as the 1930s, and they got to see documents created by Latinos and for Latinos that had messages and information that resonated with their lives today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe most challenging part was looking at our resources and putting a script together,\u201d said student Armando Gonzalez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One barrier was finding images they could include in their films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot being able to use specific photos due to copyright issues was complicated, and it was also hard providing B-Roll,\u201d explained student Gisela Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The class also spent a day with PBS Wisconsin representatives, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the production studios and filming parts of their documentaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI loved recording in an actual studio,\u201d Gisela said. \u201cIt made me feel important, and seeing the recording process for each video was so much fun since we used professional equipment like a teleprompter and high-quality cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reflecting on the experience, Walker said, \u201cI hope my students walk away with the notion that they have the skill set to create powerful pieces of information that speak to the realities of their lives and that they can use their voices to create positive changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n