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 next 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:

• Attending live performances at the Lobero, Granada, and UCSB to interview and review
• Attending current movies to prepare for reviewing at…
• And performing extensive research on honorees scheduled to attend…
• The 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival!
  
  

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 covering the Film Festival) 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 get permission from your parents, and you must also receive approval by your teachers. (We will circulate applications among the faculty; you just need to fill out the information below.)
3. Desire to be in front of camera and/or microphone. You will be interviewing people from all walks of life.
4. Dedication to serving people 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!

Instructions

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

Personal Information

Your NAME:

eMail:

Home phone #(s):

Cell phone # (if you have one):

Availability

Please let us know what commitments you have that might interfere with your participation. We plan to be off-campus for the 10 days of the Film Festival (Jan 24-Feb 3, 2013). 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 a separate email and send to John and David by 8pm, November 25th.)

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 for new team members. (Note that Mentors typically do not have the same access to Red Carpet events as 1st-time Reporters at the Film Festival. We are limited in the number of press credentials granted to us as an organization.)