Upper school journalism, videography and art history students put their classroom knowledge to use when they traveled to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23 to visit the Newseum and The National Gallery.
Twenty-one student journalists and videographers, joined by teachers Judy Davis and Mark McElhaney, toured the Newseum and took a class on media ethics led by a Newseum educator. From the moment they arrived, the students were immersed in real world applications of their study of the First Amendment, media law and ethics, and the role of the press, as well as hands on skills like reporting, writing, editing and photographing the news.
“I was incredibly excited when I saw the inscription of the First Amendment on the outside of the building,” said senior Jewell Porter.
Videography teacher Mark McElhaney added, “The Newseum gave students a very interesting exploration of the history of five centuries of the press.”
During their Newseum class on media ethics, the students got to apply their knowledge of press law and ethics to a variety of case studies drawn from recent national news stories.
“The class was a terrific opportunity for the students to test themselves with actual media scenarios,” said journalism teacher Judy Davis. “They got to grapple with the types of decisions they’ll face when they move on to college and professional publications work.”
Meanwhile, 11 art history students led by Katherine LeMay visited the National Gallery of Art. Working in small groups, the students researched different artistic movements and prepared brief descriptions of three relevant pieces currently on display at the museum, thus becoming “tour guides” for their class.
Senior Sunny Leinbach said, “I enjoyed finally seeing the works firsthand that we previously had seen only online.
The students’ presentations included Renaissance, Baroque, Rocco, neoclassic, realistic, Impressionist and postmodern masterpieces.