Bay Village Education Foundation funds video production studio
The Bay Village Education Foundation announced a $35,000 grant for a video production studio at its January fundraising gala. Pictured above are: Bay Schools communications director Karen Derby, BVEF President Amy Papp, trustee Dwight Clark and grant manager Ellie Bricmont. Photo by Denny Wendell
The Bay Village Education Foundation has announced a special anniversary grant of $35,000 to fund a new video production studio for the Bay Village City Schools.
Plans for the studio include multiple, rolling tripod-mounted video cameras, microphones, a green screen, track lighting, audio and video mixers, computer editing stations and interview sets. While the video studio will be located at Bay High School, it will be a resource available to all teachers in the school district who have projects that lend themselves well to video production.
“We selected the video studio for this special, 30th-anniversary grant because it can truly effect change in the entire district,” said Ellie Bricmont, the Foundation’s grant manager. “Video production skills are growing in demand as online video becomes a standard method in mass communication. Marketers, educators and others are turning to video to convey information, to sell and to persuade. The studio will add to the comprehensiveness of the education program of the Bay Village Schools by highlighting and encouraging the development of important new skills in a communication medium that is becoming more of an expectation and demand in our society.”
“This is a proud moment for the Bay Village Education Foundation,” said Amy Papp, BVEF president. “We have had wonderful support in our fundraising efforts, and this is an opportunity to make a significant difference to our students, our teachers and our entire community.”
“This is something our school board has seen as a need in our district for quite sometime,” said board of education President Bob Piccirilli, who also serves as a trustee on the Bay Village Education Foundation. “I am looking forward to seeing what our students produce. Our teachers and students show a great deal of creativity in many other areas, so I am confident they will take this new resource and make the most of it.”
The new studio will be available to all district teachers and students. The district’s superintendent, Clint Keener, said that a new course, “Basics of Video Production,” will be offered to Bay High students in grades 10-12 the second semester of next school year. “As students become trained to use the video studio equipment, they will also be able to help other classes and teachers create their videos,” he said. “We expect that our video students will cover some school and community events off campus, as well, and perhaps invite community members in for interview programs.”
The grant was proudly announced at the Foundation’s annual fundraising event, “Creating Opportunities,” on Jan. 29 and will be an important piece to add to students’ technology experience for those interested in audio/visual fields. BVEF’s annual fundraising gala is always well attended by parents, administrators, education enthusiasts, and community members. This year’s event raised over $25,000 toward the funding of future grants.
Meredith Prewitt
I am a 6th Grade Language Arts teacher at Bay Middle School and the middle school girls and boys cross country coach. I also have been a member of the Bay Village Education Foundation for two years.