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It’s About the Story

Be one of up to 8 Middle School students (reporters & mentors) chosen to represent SBMS to the world at large – by researching, scheduling, interviewing, writing stories, and even editing video – and by being there, covering the events! In the past we’ve talked with movie stars, politicians, entrepreneurs, software developers, bicycle racers, filmmakers, ecologists, artists, cooks, waiters, reporters, scientists, professors, students, teachers and people on the street, to name a few. Join up for the last quarter to make this list longer!

Every team finds itself in the middle of LOTS of unexpected stories, so buckle your seatbelt! In addition, we plan to:

  • Travel around the tri-county area to cover projects of the Orfalea Foundation
  • Attend live performances at the Lobero, Granada, and UCSB to interview and review
  • Travel to Berkeley to re-connect with Michael Pollan and others
  • Interview Jack Johnson & his wife
  • Write stories for Santa Barbara Kids Magazine.

Processes

The chosen reporters will take 6th period Teen Press Elective. In those sessions, we will:

  • Research opportunities for stories
  • Contact individuals and organizations to request interviews and/or sponsorship
  • Watch films about some of the subjects and/or people we will be writing about
  • Visit with members of the local press who do film reviews & interviews
  • Practice mock interviews and reviews
  • Optionally learn how to edit videos in Final Cut
  • AND THEN…
  • Travel out into the world to actually cover our stories! This can be for extended periods of time (like when we’re out of town) during class periods (often including lunch period), other times of the school day, and some evenings and weekends.

Requirements (You Need to Read This)

  1. A Teen Press reporter represents Santa Barbara Middle School to the world. You must be an independent, responsible and reliable learner, dependable and ready to work without reminder.
  2. Classroom commitment: You must be able to cover your academic tracks in all subjects. You must receive permission from your parents, and you must also need approval from your teachers.
  3. Desire to be in front of camera and/or microphone. You will be interviewing people from all walks of life.
  4. Dedication to service through information. You will be helping your viewers by giving them your perspective--informing them--through the questions you ask and the stories you write. (And the first step in this is to be informed yourself.) Be prepared to do some research!
  • Submit application materials BY EMAIL to
    John (john@sbmsteenpress.org) and
    David (david@sbmsteenpress.org)
    by Sunday, March 20th by 8 p.m.

Instructions

Copy and paste the following questions--and your answers--into an email to send to John and David. There is no written form.

Personal Information


Your NAME:

eMail:

Phone #:

Cell #, if you have one:



Availability

Please let us know what commitments you have that might interfere with your participation. We plan to travel to Berkeley as well as other parts of the county. Other events will come up on an unpredictable basis, and your availability will help determine if you can cover the story!


Parent Permission

I understand that my child will be away from SBMS several times this quarter, and that he/she will have to make up any missed work. I give my permission for __________________________________to be apply to be part of the Santa Barbara Middle School Teen Press.
Parent name _____________________________
(Parents, please copy/paste this into an email and send to John and David by 8pm, March 20th.)


Reasons


NEW Reporters:

  1. Write a short paragraph (approximately 50 words), explaining why you want participate in the Santa Barbara Middle School Teen Press as a Reporter.
  2. Write a review of a movie of your choice. This can be in the theater now, or a film you watch from video/DVD. Check out some of the reviews at:
    http://www.sbmsteenpress.org/TP-cool_cats/4stories_sbiff00Reviews.html
    Write your review in a similar format and style.

RETURNING Reporters:

  1. Write a short proposal about a story you'd like to cover, including who you would contact, where we’d go to cover the story, and why it’s a good story for Teen Press.

MENTORS:

  1. If you want to be a Mentor, use the document to tell us what you’ve learned as a Reporter, and what you see yourself doing as a Mentor to new team members.