ECTV in the studio with Lorie Brown.
Recently students at El Camino High School, known as the ECTV crew, produced an engaging and informative discussion with Ventura City Councilmember Lorrie Brown and Dr. Raquel Baker, Assistant Professor at Cal State Channel Islands. The program is part of an ongoing series on Black Culture. ECTV crew members attend school at El Camino High School and Ventura College. El Camino is located on the college campus next to the CAPS Media Center.
The students sit in during the pre-interview meeting between Councilmember Brown and Dr. Baker. The ECTV crew handles the production and post production aspects of the show. After the interview there is an informal discussion on the set with Dr. Baker and Councilmember Brown, for feedback and questions from the students. So far, the show has featured Julius Sokenu, the President of Moorpark College, and Joelle Hannah, a Professor at Moorpark College. Lynne Thompson, the current Los Angeles Poet Laureate, is to be interviewed next.
The Baker-Brown interview was conducted in the CAPS Media Center Studio which was the first time in nearly 18 months that ECTV crews have been able to conduct in-studio interviews because of COVID-19 precautions. Despite the restrictions, the resourceful ECTV students haven’t missed a beat and have continued producing informative and engaging programs throughout the pandemic.
ECTV (El Camino Television) is part of the Ventura Unified School District’s career pathways initiative. Under the direction of media guru Phil Taggart, ECTV has evolved into an award-winning media education program. In weekly immersive workshops students utilize the resources of the CAPS Media Center including cameras, editing equipment and the studio, and benefit from the media, journalism and storytelling expertise from Taggart and others on the CAPS staff.
ECTV Students work collaboratively to identify, write, produce, direct, record and edit projects of interest to themselves, the greater youth culture, and the community. In the past few years ECTV crews have been recognized with numerous local, regional, and national awards for their innovative, thought provoking and informative productions.
In other CAPS Media news, in the coming weeks CAPS crews will cover, broadcast and live stream high school graduation ceremonies for Buena, El Camino, Foothill, Pacific, Ventura and VACE (Ventura Adult and Continuing Education) from multiple locations throughout the city. The specific dates and times can be found on the VUSD website – https://www.venturausd.org
Due to the COVID-19 emergency the CAPS Media Center is closed to Members and the public until further notice. CAPS is continuing to play it safe, follow sensible guidelines, and therefore will remain closed to the public for the near term. The CAPS goal is for the community to reach the benchmark of herd immunity before reopening (approx. 85% of the public being fully vaccinated). All of us at CAPS Media hope everyone stays Safe, Strong, Socially Distant and Healthy during these very challenging times.
