Fayette County, WV (WOAY) –Â Coda Mountain Academy offers Fayette County kids hands-on learning that doesn’t always fit in a school day, from robotics and music to art and its newest nature program, Grow. This semester, the program added something new: bringing in working professionals to talk with students about their jobs.
“We have speakers from different professions come in and talk about their profession … get kids interested in … thinking about what they want to do in their future,” said Matt Evans, executive director of Coda Mountain Academy.
On Monday, that profession was news broadcasting. Newswatch 4’s Caleb Pearl walked students through the whole job, from figuring out which stories to cover, to shooting and writing them, to how a finished story travels from the station to the transmitter and out to viewers’ televisions.
The students had no shortage of questions. They interviewed Pearl, interviewed each other, and then answered a few questions of their own about what they had picked up.
“News reporters have a deadline,” said Layla, a third-grader.
“You need to know how to edit and post it and stuff, and you have to know how to get the people to communicate to actually do the job,” said Iris, a fourth-grader.
“You gotta go around and try to find out a story, what’s going on? And you have to find all kinds of people,” said Emma, a third-grader.
The response was what Coda hoped to see.
“The kids loved it. They were so excited. They had a lot of questions. There was a lot of interaction. They’re really excited about being on camera and doing the interviews, and it was just a really great day,” Evans said.
The kids will have more chances like this one. Coda is lining up additional professionals and looking for others willing to come in and share what they do.
“Anyone who has a career that they like to come share with the kids can contact us through our website or at info@codamountain.com … we’d love to speak with you and see what your career is and see if it’s something that we can use in our program,” Evans said.
The program also leans on community support to keep running.
“We’d just like to thank everyone who helps to sponsor Coda and make this possible, particularly the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation. This is provided in part by the funding that they provide, and we’re grateful for that,” Evans said.
More about Coda Mountain Academy’s programs, including how to get involved or sign up a child, is available at codamountain.com.
