In Sacramento, CA
Phoebe Hearst Elementary School's Principal Charlie Watters is interviewed by a student for their award-winning documentary on native plants.

c o n t i n u e d

Students “think green” and use their creativity to do something good for the environment
The DEC program encourages students and teachers to think of innovative environmental ideas, Rodriguez says, and put in the extra hours of work needed to accomplish an environmental project. While completing the project is its own reward, the recognition and celebration that comes with the DEC program is a great boost.

“Because the Starter Kits allow students to be the innovators and controllers of the work being produced, I feel it is a valuable tool for empowerment and expressions,” Rodriguez explains. “The children were so enthusiastic about learning every aspect of working the camera, editing and speaking. They are now planning how they will continue creating their documentary by adding information and scenes from our upcoming activities at Disneyland.”

The Starter Kit program, now called Digital Journalists, has been sponsored by SECC since 2002 to help instruct today’s youth on the value of video production. At the end of last year, a grant from the Gannett Foundation (a corporate foundation that give grants to organizations in the communities where they own a daily newspaper or television station) enabled Sacramento’s News10 to join the program and, additionally, teach students the tenets and values of journalism they practice daily. SECC matched funds and 13 new kits were created. The equipment is used for school-related student video projects and, each year, the school site must submit at least two videos to SECC’s annual SEVA contest.

Sylvia Rodriguez’s class submitted their required videos and will know if they have won another contest on May 14 when the SEVA winners are announced at SECC’s Award Night event at Folsom High School. But even if they don’t win this time, the students are still winners with the community and their teacher. Rodriguez thanks SECC and News10 for the camera and editing equipment that “allowed my students a new format for expressing themselves. So many of them truly found an outlet that allowed them to shine.”

Rodriguez also thanks Susan Maxwell of the Sacramento Tree Foundation who helped them grow native tree and plant seedlings and coordinated the Effie Yeaw Nature Center planting, the City of Sacramento Stormwater Protection Agency where they purchased the native plants and paid for the creation of 25 60-page native plant field guides for Effie Yeaw.

Learn more about Digital Journalists

Learn more about the SEVAs and Award Night

Visit Disney Environmentality Challenge (DEC)