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EdTV director outlines student media expansions, bilingual work and studio upgrades
Summary
EdTV Director Brian Byrne briefed the committee on expanded student productions across grade levels, a $200,000 South High studio remodel, bilingual video efforts, the 'Be Present' attendance campaign and a student film festival planned for April 2 at Hotel 1620.
Brian Byrne, director of EdTV for Plymouth Public Schools, updated the committee on Jan. 27 about the district’s student media programs and recent developments across elementary, middle and high school levels. Byrne highlighted a roughly $200,000 remodel of the South High TV studio, expanded live-broadcast opportunities, intergenerational and bilingual projects, the Be Present attendance campaign and an April 2 student film festival at Hotel 1620.
Byrne said elementary news teams produce monthly EdTV Kids episodes and have run projects pairing students with veterans. Middle-school and high-school students expand into live broadcasts, sports production and short films; PNN (Plymouth North) and Panther TV (Plymouth South) earned regional recognition and awards, including multiple Emmy nominations and wins at student events. A new Intro to Broadcasting course and student competitions (including work at Emerson/NSPA events) were also reported.
On funding, Dr. Campbell and Byrne noted that district EdTV programming has been supported by a cable tax agreement rather than the school operating budget, and Byrne warned that declining cable revenues and the pace of technology obsolescence present ongoing budget and equipment challenges. Byrne described early bilingual efforts — including a Hedge video produced partly in Portuguese — and said many productions are posted on district social channels and YouTube, where live-translation features can expand access. He said the department is producing a six-part budget series to help the public understand school-finance choices and that the student film festival will move to Hotel 1620 on April 2.
