“We give voice to the voiceless.”
Mr. Fornicoia, our media class advisor, repeats this mantra all of the time. It's our job as a class to bring a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves. I’ve found it easy to repeat these words time and time again, but to put them into action is something completely different. To act upon that, and shed light to something unique is a completely different challenge.
Throughout my time on The Flash, it may seem as though all of my work is unconnected. I bounce from story to story, from our school to Downtown Minneapolis. However, each piece is connected by the passionate producer behind it. A producer who has tried to develop stories that show what I want to represent.
In everything I have created, I think over the saying my teacher has repeated. Each piece shows how I have valued each person's opinion, and how I have attempted to bring a spotlight to those who deserve it most. I think of all of the individuals who I have worked with, and every story I have gotten to tell.
Throughout my time on The Flash, it may seem as though all of my work is unconnected. I bounce from story to story, from our school to Downtown Minneapolis. However, each piece is connected by the passionate producer behind it. A producer who has tried to develop stories that show what I want to represent.
In everything I have created, I think over the saying my teacher has repeated. Each piece shows how I have valued each person's opinion, and how I have attempted to bring a spotlight to those who deserve it most. I think of all of the individuals who I have worked with, and every story I have gotten to tell.
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Taylar Crane is a senior here who is involved in a program that I didn’t even know existed. At first, I thought she was a part of trap shooting. It would have been interesting enough to focus on a female shooter, but she had a completely different story. Taylar is a part of a national air rifle champion, a sport requiring a completely different skill set. In her story, I got to show off a unique sport, and broadcast a student who deserved some time in the spotlight. This exposure taught me that you never know how deep a story can get. She discussed how difficult it can be to be a female in the male-dominated arena. She displayed her bravery, and I was amazed.
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The desk demonstrates adversity
One day, my teacher was joking about a time when a story had gone very very wrong. He told a student about an interesting idea: to take a look at a desk, and the story behind it. The student then went to interview the janitor about the wood and carpentry behind it. It's a funny tale that we all can laugh about, but I took something different from that event. At first, a peer had decided he would attempt to work on a story about the desk. It fell apart and the story fell into obscurity. Until I took some time to think about the logistics. A story about a desk that seven different people sit at. That was what he had proposed.
I took it through a different lens. I wanted to tell the story of 7 different people who all just happened to sit at that desk. My objective was to take the focus off the desk, and the class that they were in, and focus on the random nature of it. I wanted to find 7 different people who had never been on The Flash and find something unique about them. So I took it to the class, and my pitch resonated with my classmates. The only concern was could I pull it off? Mr. Fornicoia questioned me genuinely. I would have to get 7 people to agree to be interviewed, then interview them so they would tell me something unique about themselves. Could I find a way to do this story in 2 weeks? I thought over all of the challenges, then (in my head) said fuck it, I’m gonna try, and so I told him yes.
So began the planning. I found my desk in my English 11 teacher's classroom. I used my likeability and my bargaining skills for a chance to take someone out of her classroom every hour that day. The only hour there wasn’t a class there was fourth hour, the hour that I was in journalism class. I needed to plan out who was gonna help every other hour. I got up in front of the class and asked for everyone's help. We put up a schedule on the board, and people put their names up to help.
I took it through a different lens. I wanted to tell the story of 7 different people who all just happened to sit at that desk. My objective was to take the focus off the desk, and the class that they were in, and focus on the random nature of it. I wanted to find 7 different people who had never been on The Flash and find something unique about them. So I took it to the class, and my pitch resonated with my classmates. The only concern was could I pull it off? Mr. Fornicoia questioned me genuinely. I would have to get 7 people to agree to be interviewed, then interview them so they would tell me something unique about themselves. Could I find a way to do this story in 2 weeks? I thought over all of the challenges, then (in my head) said fuck it, I’m gonna try, and so I told him yes.
So began the planning. I found my desk in my English 11 teacher's classroom. I used my likeability and my bargaining skills for a chance to take someone out of her classroom every hour that day. The only hour there wasn’t a class there was fourth hour, the hour that I was in journalism class. I needed to plan out who was gonna help every other hour. I got up in front of the class and asked for everyone's help. We put up a schedule on the board, and people put their names up to help.
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So I went to my economics class and waited patiently to hear how it went. Halfway through class I received a text from my friend “They refused, the person sitting in the spot. They didn’t want to be interviewed”. I was in shock. What do we do? We can’t have a story without an hour. Every piece was crucial. It had to all work together. So I made a plan, I went to every hour after that, and back to the second hour the next day. I walked into the class, clearly explained my purpose, and then kindly asked the person at the desk if they would come into the hall to talk for a few minutes. Again the person refused in 6th hour. So at a crossroads, I stood. If she wasn’t interviewed the story wouldn’t work. I already had three complete interviews. I knew that at the end of the day, the point of this story wasn’t the actual desk. It was about the people. The story worked because of the interviews.
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So, I asked the student sitting next to her. She said why not and the interview ended up going really well. She talked about a ton of different things, and we ended up doing a follow-up story on her a month later. In the end, it all came together. Editing this story was incredibly difficult, I didn’t want to remove any part of it. The story was a little long, but due to the weight of each story, and my goal to make all of them shine. It was a story that caused a stir in the Eastview community. People I didn’t know were going out of their way to tell me how much they loved it. Teachers at Eastview often write to our program to send in ideas or, though very rarely, send in praise. Multiple teachers wrote about how impactful The Desk was.