QUEENS VILLAGE — Austin Belizaire, a sixth grader at Incarnation Catholic Academy in Queens Village, sat at a desk in the computer lab on Nov. 22, checking out a new iPad. He was thoroughly impressed.
“I’m looking forward to using the iPad to do presentations,” Austin said. “Maybe the teacher could teach me how to do those so I can prepare for college presentations and things like that.”
The man seated next to him was also impressed. He was Bishop Robert Brennan, who visited the academy that morning. He had an iPad in front of him, too.
The iPads that they were using are among the 25 that were donated to the academy by DeSales Media Group — an important part of a new partnership between the two.
The centerpiece of that collaboration is a course in media communications created exclusively for Incarnation. The course, which began in October, features experts from DeSales Media Group — the ministry that produces The Tablet and Currents News — serving as guest lecturers and talking to students about journalism and social media.
“This is a unique, one-of-a-kind module that we have developed. Incarnation is the only school in the Diocese of Brooklyn that has a program like this,” said Gina Krainchich, director of educational media services for DeSales Media.
Catholic Telemedia Network, part of DeSales Media, developed the media communications course’s curriculum. It contains six modules and gives the students a chance to become content creators. The themes of the modules are digital citizenship, journalistic writing, podcasting, social media, video creation, and website design. Students will use the \ iPads to create their final projects in each module.
“[The course] is a great opportunity for the academy and a wonderful opportunity for us at DeSales to share our expertise,” Krainchich said.
Bishop Brennan praised the partnership and expressed the hope that students will come away with a sense of how to use social media responsibly.
“We always hear about social media in both positive and negative tones,” he said. It’s like anything else in the world. It has to be developed in a responsible way. Then, it can be a great help for communications.”
The lessons take place in the academy’s new computer lab, which Bishop Brennan blessed with Holy Water during his Nov. 22 visit.
Eighth-grader Savanna Wharton hopes the course also emphasizes presentation.
“I’m very excited because I feel like I need to get better at saying my speeches and pronunciation and putting out my work and all that in my writing,” said Savanna, who is also the newly elected president of the student council. “I like to write a lot, and I feel like it’d be better to show people my work instead of just keeping it.”
Austin said the course “sounds really fun,” adding that he enjoys writing in his free time.
“I like talking and writing a lot,” he said. “I like sharing my own experiences.”
Also during the visit, Bishop Brennan spoke to students at an assembly, installed the newly elected members of the student council, toured the computer and hydroponics labs, and spent time in the new library.
“I think that his taking the time out to be here shows how much his interest lies in building the spirituality of the school,” said Dr. Ivan Green, Incarnation’s principal. “Not just the academic aspect, but also balancing the religious life of their students.”
