Seven Virginia Wesleyan students highlight the 2008 election issues in their video, Voting Issues.
By Heather Templeton '10
Although the 2008 Presidential Election may be over, seven Virginia Wesleyan College students are still savoring a victory.
Five students from the FYE (First Year Experience) American Politics Living & Learning Community class, and two students from Associate Professor of Communications Dr. Stu Minnis' Advanced Video Production course, took first place in the senior division of the PBS/WHRO Be There, Be Counted video competition.
The video, Voting Issues, highlights major issues that will be decided by the next president, and how these issues affect our society. The students wrote the script, acted in, filmed and edited the one-minute video. >> View the Video
"We took issues that impact our society including immigration, war, education, abortion and same sex marriage and put them in an environment that students or the younger crowd would see and understand." - Freshman Chris Markham Freshmen students included: Ashleigh Anderson from Newark, Del.; Tiffany Davis from Spring Grove, Penn.; Timothy Jones from Virginia Beach, Va.; Chris Markham from Midlothian, Va.; and Venner Milewski from Yorktown, Va. Seniors Taylor Roesch from Williamsburg, Va., and Rebecca Miller from Norfolk, Va., students from the Advanced Video Production course, were paired with the group for filming and editing the final project.
"The story idea was simple," said Markham. "We took issues that impact our society including immigration, war, education, abortion and same sex marriage and put them in an environment that students or the younger crowd would see and understand."
For the video competition, students were given the general topic of the importance of the youth vote for the 2008 Presidential Election.
"We thought it would be a good idea to exhibit the issues on everyday items so people could relate to it," said Davis. "We added the little girl at the end holding the 'Our Future' sign because we thought it would appeal to the audience's emotions and help reinforce the message that everyone should vote because our future depends on it."
Debbie Hicks, associate dean for special academic projects and the FYE American Politics instructor, originally presented the video project to her students as an option. The entire class wanted to participate in the project, so Hicks decided to include the project in the course syllabus. A total of 14 students, broken down into three teams, from the FYE American Politics Living & Learning Community class entered the competition.
"This project was a chance for Virginia Wesleyan students to be creative," said Hicks. "The students developed a sense of pride by taking an idea and creating something meaningful from it."
Hicks said the video project exemplifies how a Living & Learning Community, an integrated academic, co-curricular and social experience, can transform the academic experience at Virginia Wesleyan.
"The students were able to research the issues they were learning in class, while also bonding and improving their leadership and team building skills while filming outside the classroom," she said. The group spent almost three hours outside of class just filming the video.
Roesch said he was impressed with the communication that took place between the faculty members to arrange the project between two classes.
"This project really shows how close of a community Virginia Wesleyan really is," he said. "Two different classes worked closely together on a video project to convey the message of the importance of the youth vote."
For more information on Virginia Wesleyan's Living & Learning Communities, contact Debbie Hicks at 757.455.3338 or dlhicks@vwc.edu. Or, view the award winning video, Voting Issues.
11.12.08