Video Productions Teacher of the Year

Video Productions Teacher is Top Among His Peers

DAVID WALLACE C & G Staff Writer
Published: April 16, 2008

WEST BLOOMFIELD - Without doubt, West Bloomfield High School has some of the best video production facilities and equipment found in a school setting. It also has the best film and television teacher.

West Bloomfield can make that claim unequivocally after Digital Arts, Film and Television - formerly the Detroit Association of Film and Television - named Kevin Walsh the 2008 Michigan Teacher of the Year of film and television. Walsh will receive the award May 9 at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival in Kalamazoo .

"It was just out of the blue. It's really surprising," said Walsh.

Walsh speculated the award might follow good showings his students have made at DAFT's annual Michigan Student Film Festival at the Detroit Institute of Arts. For the past four years, projects from his classes achieved best-in-show awards.

The school district hired Walsh - who has 21 years of teaching experience - in 2000 to design a new curriculum and help design facilities after voters approved a technology bond. He said district support is crucial to a successful video production program.

"I think the district's support of it has been the most important thing. When they let me help design the studios as well as the curriculum, that was really great," said Walsh. "A lot of our funding comes from state and government grants, and they've been extremely supportive of helping me get that."

One of the keys to Walsh's success seems to be that he allows his students a lot of freedom, and they pay that back with hard work. Walsh spoke about his award while students in his advanced video productions class taped a show.

"It's really exciting when I can turn my back on a production going on in the studio and have faith that it's going on and it's going to work out," said Walsh.

Administrators have helped make that possible.

"All the administrators I've worked under have been very open to letting my students be in the hallway to videotape," said Walsh. "Even the kids that might have trouble in other classes, often they're very responsible because they're being given a responsibility.

"So, I think I give the kids a lot of creative freedom, but at the same time, it teaches them a lot of responsibilities, too."

Sophomore Vahid Arafi recognized the same theme when asked what makes Walsh an effective teacher.

"I think he trusts his students more and lets them be more independent," said Arafi.

The video classes are kind of like shop classes in that students produce a product. It has some of the same pressures and expectations as a job.

"Those are my secret weapons. I tell the kids, 'If you can't meet a deadline and you can't work with a group of people, nothing else really matters,'" said Walsh. "They don't care how creative you are if you can't get it done."

One visit to the classroom and anyone can see that Walsh has a good rapport with students. No doubt they start with some common ground in movies, television programs and an interest in the machines used to make them.

"He tries to bond with us by being funny," said Taylor Kennedy, a senior in advanced video productions." He teaches us, and like, shows us at the same time. He's down to earth, because he makes mistakes all the time, too."

Kennedy has had Walsh as a teacher since the 10th-grade.

"I didn't even know anything about video production until I took the classes, and now I'm like, actually, real, real good," said Kennedy.

Kennedy is bound for Grambling State University .

"I might minor in video production in college next year," he said.

Sophomore Jeremy Leitson said that Walsh knows what he's talking about and is a big help.

"He's got pretty good curriculum and programming, and knows how to spend the budget to buy whatever he can," said Leitson, a sophomore.

Other classes in different parts of the country use some of Walsh's lessons. He wrote his own textbook for the class.

"Somebody suggested that I send it off to a publishing company, and I sent it to a couple, and Teacher's Discovery in Auburn Hills, they actually ended up publishing it," said Walsh."...I've gotten some nice e-mails from teachers, like in Montana or Maryland , and they really like the lessons, and that's kind of a neat thing about it."