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Every year, students from Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center produce a video highlighing the North Central Education Foundation Teacher Classroom Grants.

For the past several years, students from the Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center (WVTSC) complete an annual video production project that recognizes local educators who have received a classroom grant from North Central Education Foundation (NCEF).

Throughout the project, the Foundation Board of Directors works with WVTSC Video Production teacher, Eric Link, and his students to showcase the innovative activities happening in classrooms across the region.

The NCEF awards small classroom grants to educators in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties so they can purchase resources that meet their classroom needs. Last year, the Foundation awarded 155 grants that provided a total of $45,000 for the purchase of supplies and tools that otherwise would not have been available.

Over the years, instructor Erik Link has seen how fulfilling this project is for his students and has incorporated it as a regular part of his curriculum. The project gives students the opportunity to gain real-life experience by stepping out of the classroom – and out of their comfort zones – schedule interviews, set up equipment, ask meaningful questions, film footage in classrooms, and edit it all together – with the primary goal to tell the story of the Foundation and local teachers.

When asked what their favorite part of the production process was, many students agreed that filming and editing were the highlights.

“Being able to execute the vision of what you’re trying to accomplish while shooting is what I enjoyed most from the filming part of the process,” said Josiah Jones, an 11th grader from Entiat High School. “Learning how to edit on industry standard software has been a really fascinating experience for me because I’ve never had the chance to use that stuff before.”

Students also pointed out that though this project was a little bit stressful and nerve-racking, it was highly rewarding to take the skills they’ve learned in the classroom at WVTSC and showcase them in a real-life project.

Through the videos produced by the WVTSC students every year, the NCEF board is able to showcase the classroom activities funded via the grants, and they often show it during presentations to service clubs and at special events. The videos also encourage teachers to apply for grants and inspire individuals to donate to the Teacher Classroom Grant fund for future grant cycles.

NCEF accepts applications for the Teacher Classroom Grants every May – September, with grants awarded in October. For more information about these grants and others, visit www.loveteachers.org