Students and educators celebrated the grand opening of a broadcast studio at Fontbonne Hall Academy on Nov. 15, where pupils can learn the fundamentals of television news as part of a program the school introduced this fall. Emmy Award-winning financial journalist Maria Bartiromo, who graduated from Fontbonne in 1985, helped pay for the studio and worked with faculty on curriculum that emphasizes the value of independent thinking. The studio — which features a set, cameras, and an editing equipment — will equip students with the tools they need to make an impact, said Bartiromo.
“We’re living in a world right now that has become so polarizing, and a free and fair media is so essential and critical to any democracy, and I hope that the girls learn that throughout their studies at the broadcast journalism studio,” said Bartiromo, who is an anchor and global markets editor at Fox Business Network and was the first person to broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. “And I hope that they excel in being independent journalists, because the world needs it terribly.”
The studio kicks off the all-girl Catholic school’s first broadcast journalism course where students will assemble stories on their community using state-of-the-art camera gear.
The curriculum teaches students to identify news, target audiences, and build confidence talking on camera — skills that will translate into any field pupils decide to pursue, one educator said.
“They will learn how to stand firm and how to be determined, and most of all, they will gain the confidence that they need to make an impact on this world,” said principal Mary Ann Spicijaric. “The studio helps our students learn valuable skills and also offers them a direct career path at a time in our history when teaching honest, neutral, thorough journalism is just so important to our nation.”
The course began in September but already students are eager to take what they’ve learned beyond high school.
“We’re really lucky because a lot of students don’t get to experience journalism in high school,” said Joanna Colasanto, a 12th grader who is considering a career in communications. “And now that I’ve done it, it’s made me realize I want to keep going with it, if not as a career than as a passion. I just really love it.”
