Student News Show Premiers at Seaford Manor

Every day is newsworthy at Seaford Manor Elementary School, and that’s why fifth graders are now getting and giving the scoop. Manor News launched at the beginning of the month with informative shows are created by students. 

Assistant Principal Rich Schwartz spearheaded the new initiative and the response from fifth graders was extremely positive. Dozens of students signed up and expressed interest in particular jobs such as anchor, reporter, writer and production assistant. Mr. Schwartz is rotating crews to ensure that everyone is able to participate in multiple broadcasts throughout the school year. 

The shows will consist of several segments. In addition to important school news and announcements, there will be a sports report on both the Vikings and New York sports teams. Field reports will highlight exciting classroom activities and “Shine the Spotlight On” will feature interviews of administrators, teachers, staff and students. “Off the Word Wall” will introduce students to relevant words. There will also be This Date in History, What’s Trending, student council updates and a Seaford Scholar spotlight.   

Students wrapped up their first show, which is available on the Manor homepage at https://seafordmanor.seaford.k12.ny.us/students-families/manor-morning-news. They also created a special episode for School Boards Recognition Week.  

Much of the work takes place during recess. Their studio is the entire school, but many segments are filmed in front of the green screen in the library media center. Mr. Schwartz said the shows are edited using WeVideo and then shared with teachers to play for their classes.  

“I thought it would be fun to be on camera and have other people learn more stuff about the school,” Kendall Wasenius said about why she signed up to be a reporter for Manor News. 

“I’ve always been very passionate about being a news reporter,” added Reagan O’Callaghan, who will be one of the anchors for the first show. It is a “dream come true” having a news show at her school and she looks forward to learning about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating it. “On TV it looks easy peasy, but it takes a lot of courage and persistence.”