Task #49: Internship at The Hour (Kim)

49.  Internship at The Hour

I have been interested in writing since elementary school.  I wrote for the school newspaper in middle school, but I never pursued writing in the Paw Print at Norwalk High School.  When the opportunity to be part of an internship program rather than attend school for the last quarter of senior year arose, I was more than happy to contact the local Norwalk newspaper and ask to be a high school intern.

I began this internship on Monday, May 18.  I started with tasks like condensing press releases for the Community, Briefs, and To Do section of the paper.  I also began my first story - on a Celtic ceremony at a Norwalk Church.  When I woke up Tuesday morning and saw that what I had worked on was in the newspaper, I was ecstatic. Tuesday I was given my first big opportunity - to write a story on the lack of affordable housing in Connecticut and specifically the Stamford-Norwalk area. I had to call a representative for Governor Malloy, several president's of local business organizations, and dig through a report full of statistics about affordable housing.  It was my first day staying relatively late at the internship, but I was more than happy to do it because I knew there was a good chance the story would run the following day.

On Wednesday, both of my stories were on page 3 of the Hour and featured on the paper's website!

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/norwalk-church-to-kick-off-celtic-celebration-thursday/article_2bb0a549-7a97-5f41-a118-673fc89b7941.html

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/connecticut-ranks-eighth-in-nation-for-most-expensive-housing-stamford/article_2076eed8-70da-58b7-b5ae-13627d4986a5.html

On Wednesday, I headed out to an elevator opening at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk.  The elevator was a 15 years in the making project, so the mayor was leading a ribbon cutting ceremony.  I also drove my fellow intern to an event on the Norwalk Green with the Norwalk Gardening Club.  Then, I spent my day finishing this story, which was published on the website today.

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/lockwood-mathews-mansion-museum-reaching-new-heights-with-elevator-installation/article_00223fb8-ffcd-11e4-9156-afa445dabea8.html?mode=image&photo=0

I did not expect to see my stories featured so soon in The Hour.  I expected to be mostly working on the Community section and Briefs section.  Even though it was slightly nerve wracking at first to call so many people, it is an absolutely incredible learning experience so far.  I'm so happy I decided to be part of the internship program, and Project Explore was one of many motivating forces in being part of it.

Task #24: Animated Picture and Snow Photographs (Kim)

24.  Combine photographs to create an animated picture.

Our recent snow days have certainly hindered our upcoming Project Explore plans.  However, I have been using this time to experiment with my camera in the winter weather.  I was able to combine several shots of snow using a Google application to create an animated snow picture.

These are other pictures I took in recent snowstorms and wanted to share.

I must have fifteen photos of nearly this same picture.  I was working on my up-close photo capabilities and trying to really focus on part of the branch.

Another photo working on close-up focusing capabilities.

I experimented with different features on my camera to capture the snow.  High-speed worked well to capture it but often made my photos less focused.

Task #20 Completed: Stand For An Entire School Day (Rachael)

Kim and I came up with this task in a collaborative sense. This idea was born from the fact that I hate sitting down during our Euro class; Mr. O often asks me if I'm okay because I'm still standing long after the bell rings. Basically the way this task developed was due to the fact that since I complained so much about sitting down, Kim challenged me to stand for an entire day.  This task also raised some awareness for our project: when people asked why I was standing I explained what our project was and encouraged them to attend our presentation in May.

I will say two additional things about this experience: I now appreciate my desk in Mr. O's class more than I ever thought I would. The second comment I have is a piece of advice to all that attempt to stand for seven hours straight, do not make the same mistake I did: please wear shoes with support. 

Task #7 Completed: Conduct Interviews and Compare Responses of Different Age Groups (Kim)

7.  Conduct interviews on a topic currently impacting society, and compare the responses of different age groups.

One of our inspirations for Project 52 was Humans of New York.  Photographer Brandon Stanton became famous from photographing portraits on the streets of New York City.  He interviews his subjects and posts a snippet from the interview as the picture's caption.


You can check out Humans of New York here: https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork


Since one of our original ideas was to conduct interviews similar to Humans of New York, we decided it should still be part of Project 52.  So, we made it one of the 52 tasks.

The place to find people of different age groups for me is Thanksgiving.  My grandma hosts Thanksgiving, and you can find friends and family of all ages in her house - from babies to my awesome 94-year-old grandma.  I brought my camera along and conducted interviews.  I edited the footage, splitting the clips by questions, and I came up with this.

As for the comparison of different age groups, older people tended to view the act of taking a selfie as selfish.  The very young children saw selfies only as an act of fun and a way to remember special moments.  I asked several teenagers, and most of us had taken selfies but still were willing to admit that it was a selfish act.  

Thank you to all who participated in the video!  

Task #3: Drive By Raking (Kim)

3. Participate in the volunteer "Drive By Raking" project.  

The youth of St. Philips took to the community streets today to show support and rake leaves.  "Drive By Raking" is a service project; the youth group surprises members of the community by raking their yards.  People are chosen to be Drive by Raking victims because they have recently suffered a loss or tragedy, and the youth pick up rakes to show them how much we care.

This sign was left at the yards we raked.

Everyone was surprised to look out and see a group of young people raking their lawns.  But we were surprised, too: several times, hot chocolate and cookies were brought out as a thank you!

NHS students Sabrina Imbrogno (left) and Rachel Ranieri (right)

 The activity was a great success.  Six groups of youth raked twenty-four yards.  And gained a whole new appreciation for leaf blowers.