FAIRFIELD—The fifth-grade of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School visited the television studio at Sacred Heart University’s Communications Center to broadcast their own news show. Fifth-grade teachers, Colleen Fallon and Paul Piorek, collaborated to create this exciting program for the students, incorporating several elements from the fifth-grade curriculum, such as public speaking, persuasive writing and debate, interviewing and storytelling, script writing and graphic design, research and analysis.
The 20-minute show included a news segment, sportscast, weather report, live interview segment and televised debate. Students performed all aspects of making the show—selecting the segments and writing scripts, designing graphics, running rehearsals, anchoring the news desk, conducting live interviews, presenting debate topics, assisting with camera operation and floor management.
The news segment reported on school events: the fifth-grade recent penny challenge coup, upcoming middle school performance of Shrek the musical and events from Catholic School Week. They prepared a sportscast, reporting on St. Thomas’ basketball tournament victory and a feature on the golf team. The weather anchor presented a summary analysis of this winter’s weather, with a prognostication for the upcoming spring. Students conducted live interviews with school librarian, Adrienne Wilson and kindergarten teacher, Valerie Ford. They ran two televised debates: Is it time to stop buying bottled water? And, should zoos be outlawed?
School Principal Jo Mathieson commented, “The faculty at St. Thomas continue to amaze with their creative approaches to presenting curriculum and bringing passion to all subjects. Our students impress us by their maturity, enthusiasm, and willingness to make the most of experiences like this. We are very proud.”
The segment was featured on News 12 CT on Valentine’s Day.
About Mrs. Fallon
Colleen Fallon has elementary education certification from WCSU and a BA in US History and Secondary Education from Clark University. Her approach to education is fun, faith-filled and creative, bringing her infectious enthusiasm to social studies and language arts. He believes in giving back to the community such as volunteering to teach CCD, working at a soup kitchen, preparing couples for marriage through the Diocese of Bridgeport’s pre-Cana program; and taking mission trips to support education initiatives throughout the world.
About Mr. Piorek
Paul Piorek is a distinguished alum and hall-of-famer from Housatonic Community Collee and a magna cum laude honors graduate from Southern Connecticut State University. No stranger to television, he was an Emmy award-winning meteorologist at News 12 Connecticut for 25-years, before coming to teach math, science and religion at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School. He loves sharing his passion for meteorology with his fifth-grade students.
About St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, Pre-K3-8, has been conveniently located in the heart of downtown Fairfield at 1719 Post Road for nearly 100 years. For additional information please contact Barbara Turner, director of admissions, at 203.255.0556 x.225 or Barbara.turner@stasonline.net
