Suffolk News-Herald

If you’re still in South Hampton Roads in a few years, make sure to keep watching the evening news – you might see some of Suffolk’s youths at the anchor desk.

&uot;I like television, and I’m really interested in the news,&uot; said Ryan Ward, a student at John Yeates Middle School. &uot;I wanted to see how the news was made.&uot; That’s why he enrolled in the Suffolk Public Schools’ Media Lab class, which wraps up Friday afternoon at Nansemond River High School.

Since mid-July, youngsters from across the city have been learning the basics of print, electronic, radio and television journalism. They took a trip to the school division’s print shop, then to the WHRO studios. The kids were taught the basics of photography, Web pages, and, of course, the &uot;anchor-hood.&uot;

&uot;That was hard!&uot; Ryan said. &uot;You had to read off the teleprompter, but make it seem like you were remembering everything off the top of your head. I’m camera shy, but I just looked at it like it was easy. I looked bad when I was on tape, but I’ll be back next year to try it again.&uot;

His classmate Matthew Shaw was on the other side of the camera. &uot;I like to go into Sears and Wal-Mart and play with the cameras there on display,&uot; said Matthew, a student at Kilby Shores Elementary. &uot;I want to get one so I can videotape my friends and I skateboarding.&uot;

At the print shop, the students were given their own personal notepads, a true cornerstone in journalism. &uot;We learned about the different machines that they use,&uot; said Nicole Randolph, 11. &uot;We learned about creating different designs on cards. I learned to make new Christmas cards, birthday cards, and get-well pictures. I’m going to try it out on my computer.&uot;

WHRO gave them a look at radio and TV. &uot;We looked at the three radio channels,&uot; said Armanti Brown, 10. &uot;Then we went to the library where they show the TV shows. We saw the teachers there doing computer stuff.&uot;

NR’s summer school teachers and students got a good look at the young journalists over the past week – the students went around the school with cameras, sharpening their photography skills. &uot;I went outside and took pictures of people, and then I took some of people on computers,&uot; said Logan Masters, 9. &uot;It was fun, because we could take pictures of whatever we wanted instead of being told what to do. I’m going to put my pictures in frames and hang them up in my room.&uot;

In the school darkroom, class veterans Sami Wells and Rachel Robertson turned Logan’s pictures from negatives to positives. &uot;I like being in the darkroom, and just being able to develop our own pictures,&uot; said Sami, who’s been coming to the class for four of its 10 years. &uot;It’s a fun hobby.&uot;

&uot;I like taking pictures, and I thought that film developing would be cool,&uot; said Rachel, in the class for the second time. &uot;I’m going to keep coming back here as long as I can.&uot;