Introduction and how I got here

I requested to intern at Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) for a number of reasons, but the primary one is they have an award winning office called Broadcast and Distance Learning (B&DL). 
B&DL is the TV of GCPS, and it maintains a fully functional broadcast television studio that supports all levels of classroom instruction in the county public schools.  They also create video programming for many other needs such as staff development, public information, health and safety concerns, policy up-dates and other issues.  B&DL typically produces short video segments (1-5 minutes) that become part of reoccurring programming (ParenTVision, In5ive) or stand alone productions such as area School Board meetings or staff development curricula.   The “audience” is literally anyone connected to the public schools including employees, students, parents, suppliers, and taxpayers. 


I feel I was lucky to have this opportunity to intern at B&DL because of the wide range of video assignments they pursue and the quality product they supply.  The most significant recent award garnered by B&DL was in 2010, a Southeast Regional Emmy for “What is the School Effect?", a segment of ParenTVision.  They also received Telly(s) and numerous awards from NSPRA and GSPRA in 2010 and 2009 for programming such as “A Matter of Degree”; “Theory of Action”; “GCPS TV Annual Report”; “GCPS – A 2009 Broad Finalist”; “You Were There”; “The Road to Broad”; “Gwinnett County Public Schools Has IT”; “GCPS Focus”; “Gwinnett by the Numbers”.

Additionally, in 2010 the whole GCPS system was nationally recognized as the recipient of the Broad Prize for Urban Education.  The Broad includes a $1 million dollar cash award.  B&DL played a part in achieving this recognition as well as documenting and publicizing the news.

Another set of reasons I applied for this internship is convenience.  The GCPS offices are very near to Gwinnett Tech.  I did not want to travel for two weeks to a distance location because I wanted to stay current in my classes.  Cost is also a factor.  I probably missed some good opportunities by staying “at home”, but this schedule was best for me.  It could have been nice to dive into a job for two solid weeks, and I have read some exciting posts by my traveling classmates.  Instead, I choose to work 8-14 hours a week over 9 weeks.