CWI Compass Connect - Dec.12, 2017

Kenton Lee, the founder of the Shoe That Grows, spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 14, with business students about starting a non-profit organization. In 2007, while traveling in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Lee saw a need for shoes that can grow as children get older. Lee was able to take his idea and make it a reality. Today, more than 100,000 pairs of shoes have been distributed in 91 countries. CWI business students were able to hear Lee’s story and learn about working in a global economy, raise money, and build a team that can help them make their vision successful.

For more information about the Shoe That Grows visit https://theshoethatgrows.org/.

Standing in a crouched position, trying to hold my camera despite the open flames only a foot away. I needed to capture the perfect footage of students as they extinguished the flames. As they came walking through the smoke-filled room and into sight, I lifted my camera and started recording.

As a Media Arts Major, it was exciting to get experience and time behind the camera. In August, the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Media Club was given an opportunity to shoot footage and create a few videos of Ready Kamp, a free, five-day camp for 40 students between the ages of 12-15 selected to learn skills that will allow them to help their families and communities in a disaster or emergency event. The camp was hosted by Southwest Idaho Medical Reserve Corps who asked the CWI Media Club to create a 30- second, 3-minute, and 10-minute video to help promote Ready Kamp in the future.

The team consisted of three current CWI students, myself included, and our supervisor, CWI alumna, Shauna Lileks. We volunteered for the opportunity as part of the degree program and to gain hands-on experience using professional photography and videography equipment. After collecting B-roll footage and interviews, our team edited the public announcements.

It turned out to be a great experience documenting the activities at Ready Kamp. We were there, morning to night, capturing as much footage as we could. There were around 40 students and all of them were so active and animated. It kept us, the media team, on our feet. The activities they did at Ready Kamp ranged from putting out fires to learning how to save a drowning victim. As the media team, it was our job to capture the most significant moments of these activities. Just one of us wouldn’t stand a chance trying to capture everything; we had to work as a team to efficiently document each event.

Lileks, our supervisor, made two videos each day from the footage we gathered the previous day. Watching these videos, she would point out what we did well and what could improve. Eventually, by the end of Ready Kamp, I could see a significant increase in each individual’s ability to capture footage. I became more creative with my shots, faster at taking them, and better at recognizing the perfect moments. We all began to communicate as a team to stay out of each other’s shots, to help identify perfect shots, and to help keep our SD cards, batteries, and camera mics organized.

An interesting perk of helping document this event was our often accidental involvement. Even though we were only there to take video footage, we also ended up helping them with a few of their activities. We were able to watch these students learn a plethora of helpful skills for disaster situations. I think we learned a few helpful skills just from watching. The camp was very thorough, and the kids seemed to enjoy their time learning new survival skills.

At the end of the week, the kids got an opportunity to do a mock disaster to test all of the skills they learned at Ready Kamp. As the media team, this was also a final test for us. It was easily the fastest-paced activity of the week; there were many different facets of the situation we were expected to document. We had to build a strategy and plan for each shot and each moment. It was a great experience. I started the week with little to no experience behind a camera. By the end, I logged 65 hours of time behind the camera and learned a lot of crucial lessons about taking video. The skills I learned have helped me in my Media Arts courses like Video Production and Multimedia Storytelling.

Aj Anderson

 

Anderson is a Communication student at the College and one of several students participating in an exciting partnership between CWI's Communication 273—Media News Writing and Reporting class and the CWI Communications and Marketing Department to generate content for the College.