High School Kids Showcase PSAs to Roxborough

Tymere Blue needed to fill out his course load for his junior year at . He chose RTV2, a video production class, because "it sounded better than the other electives."

After engaging with teacher Derek Stevenson, learning how to shoot and edit film, and producing a public service announcement about substance abuse, Blue developed a new passion.

"But after taking the class, I actually liked it. Now it's what I would like to do in college," he said.

Blue, with nearly 65 peers spread over three grades, demonstrated work accomplished in Roxborough High School's two career and technical education programs—Web design and cinematography—in a Feb. 1 showcase open to family, friends, students and teachers.

Twenty-nine RTV students screened PSAs on a variety of topics, while 35 Web design students showed off personal and professional Web pages created over the year.

Both Stevenson and Web design teacher Debi Bender are in their first year at Roxborough, and were recruited by Principal Stephen Brandt to spearhead the the communication programs.

"CTE is a part of a larger program," Bender said. "We are preparing and building a foundation of skills... to go to the next step of education."

In a competition within classes Tuesday, film students were judged on technical quality, content, audience engagement and other factors for 30 to 60 second PSAs on topics passionate to them.

Stevenson posed the question: "If you could change anything about society, what would it be?" From there, students possessed complete creative control.

"I gave them ownership, and it was amazing. They were staying after school, working during lunch," he said.

Eric Krok, a student in RTV1, compared his experience with his past in education.

"In other classes there's one answer. In this class, there are lots of different ways to do it," Krok said.

Subject matter—including rape, peer pressure, teen pregnancy and others—was mature, but in-class discussions imparted on students the work's severity.

Jonathan Jacobs helped coordinate the communication program through Philadelphia Academies Inc. He said the project-based learning was key in the program's success, but also emphasized traditional scholastic exercises.

"They had to do research papers on the topics, and the content for the scripts was very important, as well," he said, adding Roxborough had the only communication academy within the city.

Student enthusiasm was evidenced in the laughing, applauding and reverence given to the eventual winners—who received Visa check cards as prizes.

In their presentation, Web design students highlighted the evolving state of their Web pages— on Patch. Contained on the Rox Brag Bag, the sites are accessible for anyone to see here.

Brandt, before yielding to the judges to disperse the winnings, thanked parents, students and teachers for attending the showcase. 

"My expectations are high for these two programs. We want independent, technical learners from Roxborough High School who pursue this on a collegiate level—or consider it as an option," he said. "I'm so happy Ms. Bender and Mr. Stevenson chose to accept jobs here."

Below is a list of the student winners from the PSA competition.