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 FULL NAME:

eMail:

Home phone #(s):

Cell phone # (if you have one):

Parent Permission - Santa Barbara

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, Team 24.

Parent name __________________________________________

Parents, please copy/paste this section into a separate email and send to John and David by 8pm, Saturday, April 12th.

Parent Permission - Telluride

I understand that my child will travel to Telluride, Colorado to cover the Mountain Film festival, and travel from there to Oregon for the End-of-the-Year Expedition, and that these travel costs are only partially covered by tuition. I understand that he/she will have to work ahead academically to make this possible. I give my permission for __________________________________to be apply to be part of the Santa Barbara Middle School Teen Press, Team 24.

Parent name __________________________________________

Parents, please copy/paste this section into a separate email and send to John and David by 8pm, Saturday, April 12th.

Commitments

Please let us know what activities you have that might interfere with your participation. We plan to be off-campus before and during MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND for the Mountain Film Telluride festival (May 23-26), and traveling directly to Oregon for the End-of-the-Year Expedition! This means you'll have to plan ahead both academically and in terms of packing and preparing for the trip.)

My activity commitments that might interfere with Mountain Film Telluride are (list them here):

I understand that I will have to be prepared both academically and logistically to participate in Mountain Film Telluride.

(Type your name here to acknowledge this):________________________________

Research Assignment

Unlike red carpet interviews which can only be 1 or 2 questions long, our interviews at Telluride are longer and more in-depth. Think about how you would prepare to interview a filmmaker or the subject of a film at Mountain Film--here's how:

• Go to the Mountain FIlm Telluride site, and navigate to "World Tour" > "Tour Film Archives"
• Select a year (and click "Apply")
• Select any film that catches your interest, and prepare research notes that include the following:

1. Film title, name of the director, and a link to the page
2. A synopsis of the film in your own words
3. The name of the person you're preparing to interview
4. Six questions for that person. Begin each one with some information about the person that prompted that particular question.
   
   Here are some research examples from interviews earlier this year:
   • Notes for filmmaker Bezan Tulu during SBIFF 2014,
   • Questions developed for members of the Director's Panel during SBIFF 2014, and
   • Preparation for a very long visit with author and former child soldier Ishmael Beah.

Idea Assignment

Come up with an idea for "bringing back" something from the Mountain Film festival to Santa Barbara and SBMS next year. Feel free to talk with members of last year's Mountain Film Telluride team (Dia, Lylah or Sarina).

Team 24 - Spring 2014

Near & Far--It’s About the Stories

Spring brings a different kind of schedule for Teen Press, but the mission is the same: to find, research, gather and share interesting stories. The 2014 spring team will be in two parts: an "early" group of reporters dedicated to covering local stories, and a "later" group who will cover Mountain Film Telluride, and hopefully present the festival's traveling show to Santa Barbara next school year. Admission to the Telluride group will be limited to 6 eighth graders who successfully complete the application process. Reporters for Team 24 will be selected by the end of the first week of class.

What's in store

The selected reporters will take 6th period Teen Press Elective. The "early" group will work to cover stories primarily during the first 4 weeks of the quarter, then switch to study hall. The "late" group will start in study hall mode, working ahead to prepare for their absense from the last days of classes, then switch to Teen Press for the last month of the quarter.

During Teen Press class sessions, we will:

• Introduce and practice interviewing skills
• Discuss the approach we use as reporters (strategies and ethics), aka "Journalism 101"
• Research story opportunities
• Contact individuals and organizations by email and phone to request interviews and/or sponsorship
• Watch films about some of the subjects and/or people we will be writing about
• 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 Mountain Film festival) during class periods (often including lunch period), other times of the school day, and some evenings and weekends.
  
  

What's required to take part

1. A Teen Press reporter represents Santa Barbara Middle School to the world. "Because of them, us--because of us, them." You must exhibit the highest level of SBMS citizenship to be selected to represent the school. You must also be an independent, responsible and reliable learner, dependable and ready to work without reminder.
   
2. Classroom commitment: You must be able to and you must commit to keeping up with your academic work.
   • You must also receive approval by your teachers. (Applications will be circulated among the faculty to be evaluated regarding your standing in citizenship and scholarship.)
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!
5. Both groups: You need to complete the first part of the application: Personal Info through Parent Permission.
   
6. For the Telluride group: You must demonstrate your desire to become part of the team by completing the application below.