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Students Reflect on the Year in Final Creative Writing Lab

With the end of the school year sadly just around the corner, our creative writing seminar wrapped up today with students reading reflections on the year. The reflections ranged from funny to touching, though every student expressed their deep gratitude for the opportunity that TCS has given them and the family they have formed here this year. The creative writing seminar has run every week each year for close to 15 years under the leadership of Mr. Don Riesett, veteran of the advertising industry. Mr. Don has had work in several creative writing publications and we are very grateful he shares his stories and expertise with us. See you next year, Mr. Don!

On Camera Seminars Wrap Up!

That’s a wrap! For the past month, the students have been practicing their video production skills under the guidance of industry pros. Voice actor Renee Beale and news consultant Jamie McIntyre have been very generous to share their talents with us over the course of this seminar.

It has been a long-standing tradition here at TCS for the students to do a weekly news report on both world news and school news. The goal of the four On Camera classes has been to give the students new tools and skills to improve their newscasts in professional, creative ways. Renee and Jamie taught both on-camera and behind-the-scenes skills, from vocal techniques to lighting and using tele/audio prompters.

The middle lessons focused on maintaining eye contact and clear vocals while using teleprompting and audio prompting, with one exercise where the students went outside to practice field reporting. For the final lesson, Renee and Jamie observed our newscasting setup and gave feedback on how to improve the technical side.

Finally, Jamie gave a demo on video editing, showing how you can use free software to create a professional-qualityvideo. The students are so excited to put these new skills to work not only in the newscasts, but also for presentations in the daily curriculum. We hope we can have Renee and Jamie back next year!

Conversation With Delegate Maggie McIntosh

Continuing our hands-on study of local government this month, the students had the opportunity to speak with Delegate Maggie McIntosh of the 43rd district. Delegate McIntosh has served in the State House of Delegates since 1992. As the previous chair of the Environmental Matters Committee and the current chair of the Appropriations Committee, Delegate McIntosh was also the first woman in Maryland to be House Majority Leader.

The students had the opportunity to ask Delegate McIntosh about a variety of topics from environmental concerns to the U.S. President, as well as current events such as the Johns Hopkins police force, the Alabama abortion bill, and the new Baltimore Mayor Jack Young. Delegate McIntosh had a background in education before becoming involved in politics, and she spent some time discussing education policy as well.

Later, the students reflected on the conversation. “I liked how she talked about her honest opinion on situations. She even made me rethink my position on some things. I think that she is deep rooted in her community and that she had changed a lot in our Community,” said Tyleiah.

Salma said, “I was never into local politics and now I can teach others so they can expand their views as well. Since she’s the one that is going to be making decisions for us all it was great seeing her points in these types of topics that was brought up.”

Claude thought that “she has such a deep understanding of government and politics that she knows what she says. To me, she does seem to be more progressive than I am, but I’m open to her viewpoints on the subjects she talked about. She did move my views on the Hopkins Police because she did give me a more informational standpoint. Overall, I think she was a valuable person to have to talk the class.”