NEW ORLEANS – A local high school is finding ways to invest in their students’ dreams despite the coronavirus crisis. 

“St. Augustine High School has a long history of promoting media and journalism as an activity for it’s students” Marketing Director, Melissa Duplantier shared this morning. 

That’s why they created the film and media team which is an opportunity for aspiring journalists to gain experience in the field! 

“They’re tasked with filming our athletic events.”

The course also allows students to practice interviews with big names like Cam Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu! Since this pandemic, the course has had to be virtual but that hasn’t slowed anything down! 

“They’re still going after stories even though we’re on a stay-at-home order!”

The St. Augustine Film and Media extracurricular course has been helping young journalists for over 20 years and students say, this has been a huge part of their skill development!

“Even though it’s virtual, I still push myself everyday! Crafting a good story, developing an appealing experience for the audience and other things” St. Augustine High School Student, Mark Joseph told WGNO. “But those are really the key things I was taught in this program.”

With Mark’s extra time, he’s going the extra mile! “I’m still doing my school work and getting ready to do a film journal with COVID-19.”

He and his classmates are also doing virtual interviews! “We look at some of the questions. We look at some the video that they’ve produce while they’re at home!”  Duplantier said.
Advice that’s greatly appreciated by students like Mark. 

“Thanks to media and film program, I feel like I have the opportunity to grasp my dream.”