Since 2003 the Hillcrest broadcast program has made DVD compilations available for purchase to benefit the HTV Alumni Scholarship Fund.

The newest collection is the most ambitious yet. It features HTV’s top 20 stories from the show’s first 20 years (1989-2009). This anniversary disc can be purchased on the recently activated “HTV Store” on the program’s website, www.htvmagazine.com.

“We finally got our store going about a month ago, and it’s working well so far. The money we raise there goes to the scholarship, which provides a new laptop computer to an HTV senior each year.

The 20th anniversary collection is a two-disc set, designed by HTV volunteer Mike Teuber. It includes the top 20 stories, plus five student commentaries, and HTV’s six RFK Award winning segments.

“We have gotten great feedback so far. The alums featured on the DVD have purchased several, and teachers around the country are buying it to use as a class resource,” Davis said.

Past HTVers are encouraged to join the “HTV Alumni Association 2″ on Facebook.  There are currently over 300 former broadcast students in the group.

Deadlines, headlines, bylines and photos.  It all looks like the real thing, but it’s just for practice.

Sherrie Bellmer’s Journalism I classes are working on a “mock Herald,” which provides them with the opportunity to learn about the production of the school newsmagazine.

This will help them as they apply for positions for the 2010-2011 Herald staff. Dylan Walker and Kimberly Moore talked to some of the JI students about the experience for the video clip at the left.

The regular “Herald” staff will have a new edition of the colorful quarterly ready in a few weeks.

Kristy Gilmore’s chemistry classes got to make tasty snacks and do a lab experiment at the same time. Students in both general and advanced chemistry made s’mores using Bunsen burners.

“The students are doing a thermochemistry unit,” Gilmore said. “They’re doing smores so that they can convert dietary calories to jules of energy to figure out what their bodies can do with those jules of energy.”

This scientific treat has been a long-time favorite for chemistry pupils. Gilmore has been assigning the s’mores lab for fourteen years.

“They are very excited about having a hands-on lab that they get to eat,” said Gilmore. “It’s a whole lot more fun if they can actually see what’s going on as opposed to just doing pencil and paper problems.”

(story archived from March 18, 2010)

Students in Mr. George’s class take part in a poster project under the direction of their student teacher. This video clip was produced by Dylan Walker and Kimberly Moore from the Broadcast I class.

The “salon” was open for a history project that gave students the chance to wear costumes from a specific period, and the opportunity to speak in the first-person as a historical figure would have.

Paulina Doran, Jodie Putman and Kendra Zahn shot and edited this video clip of the activity.

The AP English Literature classes have finished up their unit on The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. After weeks of being immersed in one man’s vision of Hell, the students got to create their own.

“It was kind of strange at first, but once I got into it, it was really fun to make my own sins with the things I feel are wrong, and pick punishments for them,” Sammy Phillips said.

The students designed posters depicting the levels and punishments in their infernos, then displayed them in the class.

“Everybody’s Hells were very creative,” said teacher Amy Erickson. “I think they enjoyed doing and sharing the assignment.”

(story archived from February 22)

Jane Rasmussen’s “Fashion Design” students are working on a number of projects during third quarter. First-year students are making purses, and advanced students are working on the eight projects they have to complete during the semester.

Webstaffer Chelsey Choate shot and edited footage of the class in the clip above. This semester, all of the students in the class are females.

Playdough might seem like an unlikely tool to use to teach about the dangers of Shaken Baby Syndrome, but Child Development teacher Jane Rasmussen knows what she’s doing.

“We’re going to form the playdough into the shape of a brain, then we’re going to make a schematic (of the brain) to learn how each part effects your body,” said Rasmussen.

The students made their own playdough, in a variety of colors, for the lesson. Rasmussen said it was cheaper to make it than to buy it.

Sophomore Emily Gagliardo said the lesson was important, and it was also fun. She plans to take what she learned about “home-made playdough” and utilize it outside of class. “It’s really cool because I can make it for little kids when I’m babysitting,” she said.

(story archived from February 9, 2010)

Archery has been resurrected for the individual and dual sports classes. Students have enjoyed a break from normal P.E. activities

“I have a lot of students who have never shot an arrow, so we really go over technique and form, said Coach Karen Fielding. “You don’t have to necessarily be really athletic to do this, and I find it meets the needs of both boys and girls.”

The aspiring archers have learned to shoot individually, currently are shooting in teams, and will eventually practice target shooting.

“We like to put dollar bills on the target, and if you hit you get to keep it,” Fielding said.

(story archived from February 5, 2010)

Seniors Radu Mariuta, Sari Higgins, Josh Lo, and Noah Sheets are creating murals for a special community project.

“The theme of the project is ‘Art Transforms Downtown,’” art teacher Heather Weter said. “The murals will be displayed downtown in the spring.”

“It’s like we’ve all given birth to a baby, and now we’re working to shape it,” said Sheets.

“With the murals, we’re trying to capture the essence of downtown,” Higgins said.

“I chose these students because they are reliable and have shown exceptional ability,” said Weter.

(story archived from January 21, 2010)