Written by Harper Timberlake and Jaylyn Hamilton
The new green screen at Salem Middle School, provided by grants, is a fun and compelling way for the students to get involved in hands-on activities. Jessica Morgan, STEAM lab director, has helped the students learn and navigate this new addition to the middle school. The students get the opportunity to expand their creativity, while also advancing their learning experience.
The grants paid for new lights, tripods, green screen paint and a portable green screen. They were able to purchase this equipment through the Washington County Community Foundation and the D. Jack Mahuron Education Grant. Morgan and the students are grateful for the grants and having this opportunity.
“Thank you to the Washington County Community Foundation for the money to be able to provide for the green screen,” Morgan said. The grants were able to cover the $471. 94 for the equipment. These supplies and equipment are all set up in a small room in the STEAM lab.
“I feel like it's a great addition to our STEAM lab and can help with a lot of stuff in the future,“ sixth grader Amethyst Kassay said.
Morgan had a few students help with setting up the studio.
“I have student helpers come in at various times throughout the day,” she said. “They helped me paint the wall green.”
Other students helped with the lighting, camera and other equipment needed for setup.
“Our students are very excited about having it and they enjoy making their own videos,” said Morgan.
The green screen takes a while to learn how to use because of the multiple steps needed to have a finished product. First, they video their content in front of the green wall. Then, they save their video to an SD card. Next, they download the video to a program called WeVideo.com where they can edit it. The program allows many ways to expand their creativity. They are able to edit it with music, backgrounds, colors and more.
“I enjoy that we are able to now edit backgrounds into our videos or pictures, so the background is more set with the theme,” Kassay said.
The sixth graders have already started working on a project with the green screen. For science class, they have created creatures and created a habitat for the creature. The project was for an assignment for science and language arts.
They are learning how the green screen works and what works best.
“We did a project and some things had to be cut out because it wasn't behind the green screen,” sixth grader Ezra Cooper said.
Currently, the sixth graders are the only ones who have used the green screen. However, Morgan said, “All sixth through eighth graders will use it at some point."
The green screen is a great addition to the middle school for students to expand their creativity, and use different mediums for school projects.
“It was really cool using it and testing new things with it,” sixth grader Ethan Elliott said. “I can see a lot of cool projects in the future with it.”