APTRA Academy en Español Huge Success

Students at the 2004 APTRA Academy en Español held in Malibu, Calif.

Almost 60 students got the opportunity to learn how to package a story and practice behind an anchor desk as part of APTRA'S television boot camp. There was a lot of excitement and energy at the Cottontail Ranch in Malibu on Saturday and Sunday, October 9 & 10. And by the time it was all over, students and teachers were pleasantly exhausted.

2004 marks the fifth anniversary of APTRA'S TV boot camp, but this is the first year its founder, Hal Eisner, offered this incredible hand-on training opportunity to students interested in working in Spanish-language media.

Dozens of reporters, anchors, producers and news directors from English and Spanish-language stations joined forces to help teach students the art of television news.

Hal Eisner definitely outdid himself. He not only coordinated the more than 80 professional mentors who came to work with the students, but he staged, along with actors, real police officers and firefighters, an incredible scenario: a man setting off a pipe bomb in a cabin, a hostage situation and the rescue. That's what the students had to report on for the ficitional Malibu News 12 newscast.

"The boot-camp was a wonderful experience. It not only helped me confirm what I like, but also what I don't like. I love to gather the news and write scripts, but I panic in front of the camera. So, I'm sticking to news production." That's from Yolanda Morales, one of the Spanish-language students.

Another of the students from that group, Mario Lanzas, was so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the boot camp, that he donated the $50 dollar scholarship he won at the camp to NAHJ. "I wouldn't have found out about the camp otherwise. I learned so much and I had a great time," he told us.

Four students participated in the anchor academy. Two of them flew in from Miami! The anchor academy students got the opportunity to practice reading from a prompter, get cued from the control room during a "breaking news" story, with little information to go on and do a "live" phoner with a law enforcement official.

At the end, several of the students promised to come back next year for more... but before that, they promised to attend the NAHJ national convention, where they hope to get into the student projects, network and tackle the job fair.

You can see more pictures of the APTRA academy at www.aptra.org and haleisner.com.