- April 5, 2025
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Gabriel Ramirez walks away from the anchor desk after clicking the clapboard to conclude the show. Anchors Jasial Jackson and Haley McLeer smile next to him. Photo by Paige Wilson
Sixth-graders Jasial Jackson and Haley McLeer sit at the anchor desk during the live news show. Photo by Paige Wilson
Abbie Blumengarten (left) and Taylor Spann watch the camera focused on the special guests during the live news show. Photo by Paige Wilson
Media Center Specialist Melanie Tahan smiles while watch the live news show, with Freddy Gimbel working at the computer and Lukas Notaras watching. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jasial Jackson adjusts her bracelet just before the show. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jasial Jackson (left) and Haley McLeer sit at the anchor desk during the live news show. Photo by Paige Wilson
Olivia Ramirez scrolls through the iPad connected to the teleprompter for the anchors to read. Photo by Paige Wilson
Freddy Gimbel adjusts the music and microphone levels on the computer. Photo by Paige Wilson
Taylor Spann adjusts the camera on the guest speakers. Photo by Paige Wilson
Assistant Principal Travis Lee (right) speaks as a special guest on the news show, next to Principal Barbara Sauvelpahkick. Photo by Paige Wilson
Sixth-graders Jasial Jackson and Haley McLeer sat in front of a green screen at Rymfire Elementary School, ready to anchor the first live news show this school year on Oct. 6.
The news duo was dressed in pajamas to celebrate spirit week, where students could bring in $1 to participate in the day’s spirit attire while benefiting the Future Problem Solvers group. But there was another special part of the day for Jackson and McLeer: it’s their mutual birthday.
“It just gives them an experience of public speaking or technology behind the scenes, and they absolutely love it.”
- Melanie Tahan, media center specialist
McLeer wore an alpaca onesie in celebration of pajama day, which made for fun newscast attire. She said she was nervous, but she enjoyed her role in the show on Friday.
“It was scary because we did this a few times before and almost all our peers and classmates were watching,” said Jackson, who sported a fluffy robe with colorful hearts on it. “But I feel better that we actually have experience doing it now.”
The birthday girls read off the teleprompter, which was managed via bluetooth on an iPad by student Olivia Ramirez.
Other student volunteers in fourth through sixth grade buzzed around a back room in the Media Center, running the microphones, the music, the camera on the guest speakers and more.
Melanie Tahan, the media center specialist, stood in the sound booth during the show, grinning from ear to ear.
“It just makes me happy to give them the opportunities,” Tahan said. “They have to stay so focused on all their studies, but this gives them an outside opportunity for a different kind of learning that they might not get otherwise.”
Tahan teaches the ropes to the 25 student volunteers who signed up and received teacher recommendations to participate. The students will rotate roles each week for the news show over the PA system Mondays to Thursdays, as well as for the live camera show on Fridays.
She said the program has helped students get out of their shells.
“It just gives them an experience of public speaking or technology behind the scenes, and they absolutely love it, so I enjoy doing it every day,” she said.
While most of the behind-the-scenes and on-camera roles on the Oct. 6 show were held by sixth graders, the fourth and fifth grade volunteers will soon have a chance to go live too.
“My dad is a photographer, so I can probably do camera,” said student Lukas Notaras, who observed the show on Friday.
Student Abbie Blumengarten said she’s excited to sit at the anchor desk for an upcoming show.
“Hopefully next week, I’ll be able to be one of the people talking,” Blumengarten said. “I like talking.”
Tahan started producing the live show with students last year, and she hopes to continue improving their skills with the goal of one day submitting a video segment to the Florida Association for Media in Education’s Jim Harbin Student Media Festival.
“If we get really good at what we’re doing, then maybe we can win an award at the state level,” she said.
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