Thursday, April 11, 2013

A Holland New Tech Television Experience


by Ben Kouchnerkavich
           
Grand Rapids, Mich.--On Tuesday, April 9,  New Tech sophomore Bryce Crenshaw and teacher James Woods went to the studios of WOOD-TV in the Heritage Hill neighborhood of Grand Rapids to be filmed for the television show “Maranda: Where You Live.” Mr. Woods was the supervising teacher at Holland New Tech High School for the production of the Community Energy Plan (CEP) video project that all New Tech students participated in during the 2011-2012 school year. 

The videos were published on YouTube, and Crenshaw’s video received the most views. He worked with fellow New Tech sophomores Jose Arroyo, Bronsen Clyne, Anthony Garza, Oscar Roman, and Khalil Torres. Their video was shown at an awards film festival last April at the Knickerbocker Theater in Holland.

According to WOOD-TV, students will be talking about their role in the project and the importance of the project to the Holland community. Teachers will be speaking about their role in the project as well. Holland Christian High School and Black River Public School also participated in the video project. Mr. Woods and Bryce Crenshaw were the two representatives chosen from New Tech to be interviewed.

Mr. Crenshaw suggested that not everything went as planned in the television appearance. The Ottawa Area Intermediate School District hired a company to produce a film about the project. The film was featured as an example of cooperation between school districts in Ottawa County. The project itself was a YouTube video contest between high schools in the OAISD.

"Maranda came up with some questions related to the CEP project,” Mr. Crenshaw continued, “and what it was like to do projects in school and what affect the school has on us. We didn’t get asked the things we had planned for." Despite the misunderstanding, it became a very positive experience for Bryce. “It was confusing at first, but the problem fixed itself and it went really well altogether.”

Mr. Woods agreed. "It was a great opportunity to give a little exposure to the positive things that are happening in Holland. The community has a great plan in place to make us more energy secure and efficient. The schools have wonderful students and staff. We were able to share a little of that with Maranda and her audience, and that was really nice."

The episode of “Maranda: Where You Live” featuring Mr. Woods and Mr. Crenshaw will appear on WOTV-TV at 7:00 PM Friday, April 12, as part of a special on the public awareness campaign, “Doing More. Together.”