SchoolTube Teacher of the Month

Ted Irving

After only a year as a full-time editor with ABC 13 in Houston, Ted Irving realized that not only could he teach, he loved to teach! Today, Irving has taught for over 10 years at the high school level.

SchoolTube: How did the video program at your school start?
Ted Irving: The Hightower Media Academy was one of our academies that were designed to offer students something unique and different rather than the standard high school experience. The academy programs were started in 1998.

ST: You've been at this awhile, do you have any advice for other video teachers?
TI:

If you'd like to read more about Ted Irving and his experiences, check out the Teacher of the Month blog below.

SchoolTube Interview with Ted Irving

SchoolTube: How long have you be teaching?
Ted Irving: 8.5 years at the Hightower Media Academy and two years prior at the Jack Yates School for Communications.

ST: How long have you been teaching video?
TI: 10 and a half years.

ST: What subjects do you teach/have you taught?
TI: Our courses: Video Technology (10), Intro to Media Video Technology (11), Media Tech 1 (12) and Media Tech II Internship (12). I taught those same classes at the Yates school. I also teach our dual credit college courses for juniors and seniors which are TV Field Production, Intro to Radio & TV, Film & Video Editing & TV Studio Production. Beginning fall 2008 I will be teaching the Avid Media Composer certification course. As with most video teachers I instruct students on lighting, editing, audio, videography, script writing and all the miscellaneous areas of our field.

ST: Did you always want to be a video teacher?
TI: No. I received the opportunity to teach broadcasting a year after I took a full-time job as an editor with ABC 13 in Houston. At that point I realized I could teach what I love and continue to engage in community service and give back, just on a larger scale. Since 1988 I have been involved in the local community as a volunteer so teaching allows me to fulfill both passions. After accepting the Yates media job I continued working part-time and freelance in the business. I eventually went back in order to become a news photographer. I needed the experience.

ST: What is your favorite part about teaching video?
TI: Seeing students faces light up after they have worked hard on a production and it wins an award or recognition in a film festival or local video competition. The great taste of winning never leaves and they become empowered to produce more content.

ST: How did the video program at your school start? How old is it?
TI: The Hightower Media Academy one of our academies that were designed to offer students something unique and different than the standard high school experience. Our academy system consists of Engineering, Broadcasting, Medical Sciences and Digital Graphics & Animation. The academy programs were started in 1998. I came on board in 1999.

ST: Why do you consider video a class worth offering at the K-12 level?
TI: It is a 21^st Century skill needed by churches, non-profits, businesses, the government, medical industry and every existing field. Video permeates our lives from security cameras, the internet, cell phones, etc. It is a highly technical field requiring software engineers, hardware engineers, and the creative end user. It is the goal of the state of Texas and the Texas Education Agency to make sure that all graduates in our state leave high school with a diploma and a license or trade in a certification (www.achievetexas.org).

ST: Do you have any advice for other video teachers?
TI: If you were never employed in the business (TV, Film & Radio), work to convince your principal that you need for them to pay for you to get industry training and non-linear editing certification in Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer or Apple Final Cut Studio. They may also be willing to get you certified in other industry certifications such as media engineering or networking. Second, contact your local TV and Radio stations to see if they will allow you to intern at their stations or at least have some limited, two week observations. Network with the stations for copies of their scripts, copies of news packages, features and newscasts. Third, conduct some research to find a local company that offers training or a Teachers Video Boot Camp. Finally, just have fun, keep in contact with your parents and weed out any behavioral problems.

ST: Do you have any memorable stories from your teaching experience?
TI: Our program won a Texas Regional Emmy Award, which was really cool. Unfortunately, the academy no longer allows schools to call themselves "Emmy" award winners. But it was great while it lasted and we proudly display the award in our trophy case. Our school was also the first in the nation to win the Disney/ABC Talent Development Scholarship Grant in 2000. The winner was flown to Los Angeles along with our principal and the student received a $20,000.00 grant and our program was given $5,000.00 for being the winning school.

ST: Do you have any other comments or stories you'd like to add?
TI: With the advent of Current.tv, Varsity Teen Television, SchoolTube, Youtube other similar sites plus cell phone content, the video explosion of the 21^st Century has been exciting and overwhelming. We are witnessing history. The age of convergence is still flowing and the digital transition occurring February 17, 2009 is looming like a huge credit card bill, full of stress and bewilderment as citizens make tough decisions on whether to buy a converter, a new HD digital compatible LCD or just wing it. The K-12 level is right in the middle of this oasis of binary codes, metadata and visual vertigo. We are preparing more American citizens for jobs in media than most universities. We have the skilled instructors and the equipment and greater access to grants. Universities across the US are no longer hiring Master level teachers. Research is the trend and only PhD level publicans are being hired. Most of us in film, TV & Radio do not obtain higher level degrees. Our industry is a trade. If you can shoot, write or edit, you can get a job. This is a quandary for our students as well as academia. Colleges are building state-of-the-art broadcasting facilities without industry professionals to teach how to light, edit, videotape, archive or write scripts. Our high school graduates won't attend colleges where the staff has never worked in TV or film. Nor will academia make the financial commitment to pay industry professionals acceptable salaries which will no-doubt create animosity between media skilled instructors and theory based instructors. As K-12 video instructors, we are preparing America's next generation of journalists, filmmakers, content creators, convergence journalists, animators and much more.

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