The Children of Telstar

Moody, K. (1999) book The Children of Telstar: Early Experiments in School Television Production. New York. Vantage.

Summary
by
Anne Beaumaster

Telstar – either of two low-altitude active communications satellites launched in 1962 and 1963 by the US and used in the transmission of television programmes, telephone messages, etc.
(www.thefreedictionary.com, 2012)

Kate Moody’s (1999) book records her personal experience with the shift toward electronic media and how one school system used this shift to motivate and reach a variety of students during a 10 year span. The book begins with a brief discussion of the transformation from oral discourse, to print, to the invention of the printing press and to electronic media.

Important People and Events

Jean Baity – developed and founded The Murray Avenue School TV Studio. This was mainly operated by elementary students and parent volunteers.

Kate Moody – Due to her background as a reading teacher, she was asked by Jean to help students with script writing and speaking roles at The Murray Avenue School TV Studio.

Both were then asked to work at a new project at the Mamaroneck Avenue Elementary school where they were to fool around with the audio visual equipment and then share with teachers and students.

Charles Fitch – he was responsible for the media class at Hommocks Middle School. They were given lighting and editing equipment from the Murray Avenue School. Fitch also had hand held cameras that he would let students take home.

Robert Hanna – an english teacher that was put in charge of the new Mamaroneck High School TV Studio. The high school also received equipment from Murray Avenue School. However, students did not enjoy this studio as they were used to the interactive class from the middle school, taught by Charles Fitch. In this class, they spent most of their time sitting and listening to Hanna.

Michael Witsch – a young english teacher higher at the high school. After listening to students tell him how bored they were in their tv class, he asked Robert if he could fool around with the equipment. Robert was more than happy to let him take over the class.

George Ehrenhaft– chairman of the English Department. He allots Witsch with $2000 dollars for the studio.

Students excited about the studio worked to redesign it, finding furniture, taking out seats for more space and coming up with a new backdrop. Whatever was needed seemed to always show up.

Michael Witsch decided to open up the TV class to freshman and sophomores
when he saw how eager and motivated they were thanks to Charles Fitch in the middle school.

David Gumbel – was a student of MHS that went on to work for Jim Henson. He struggled in his regular classes, but was known as a “media genius” in TV class.

The Media students of MHS became well known for their Morning Report, which later was renamed MHS Information.

PACE – In 1975 the Performing Arts Curriculum Experiment was initiated. It integrated the visual and performing arts. In the first year they had to do ten weeks of drama, ten weeks of dance and ten weeks of TV production study. In the following years, those that would specialize in television production would film the dances and plays. They became a family.

The TV studio and class became an important part of the students lives. It was like a home to them and they spent a tremendous amount of time at the studio, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

Activities:

1. Please add a significant educational technology that you have used or read about to our Timeline. You must log in first. We have added a few to get you started.

b) How comfortable do you feel teachers are at letting students take over their learning experience like what happened in the Mamaranock school system?

References:

The free dictionary by farlex. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Telstar

Moody, K. (1999) book The Children of Telstar: Early Experiments in School Television Production. New York. Vantage.