Dovercourt Recreation Centre made a new addition to their summer day camp that put campers in charge of the Rogers TV Studio.
The new camp gives kids the opportunity to learn the inner workings of the TV news business. Campers learned to operate cameras, edit video and perform on camera.
The group of 14 campers made a trip to City Hall where they filmed an interview with Mayor Jim Watson and recorded a flash mob in City Hall.
Pascale Hum, 10, of Westboro was one of the hosts for the mock news program. “I really, really, really wanted to be host and I was so shocked to be selected as host,” he said. Hum aspires to start a Youtube channel with friends making three minute sit coms.
While Hum and co-host anchor from behind the news desk, campers operate video cameras on set, while others sit behind computers and mixing boards in the dimly lit control room making the mock program flow together.
Nick Roy, 20, of Westboro was this year’s camp director. “If I were still a kid I would have loved to come here, it’s a fantastic opportunity,” said Roy.
Staff at Rogers worked with camp directors to give the campers an easy introduction into the world of television broadcasting. “Rogers has some fantastic staff here who are very knowledgeable as well as really patient and they’ve been really good at breaking it down into baby steps,” said Roy.
Given the success of this year’s camp, organizers hope to continue the relationship with Rogers for years to come.