Chris Britton’s digital media class at Rock Island-Milan School District's alternative secondary program covers everything from digital audio workspaces and sound engineering to self-expression and photo and videography skills.
Class sizes typically range from seven to 10 students, Britton said. Due to the curriculum’s emphasis on transferable skills and creativity, it tends to be popular among students.
“The students get excited because they’re learning new things, and they’re able to express themselves,” Britton said.
“I think, in an alternative school setting, sometimes students aren’t used to being able to creatively express (things) that are going on outside of the classroom,” he said. “So, we get to kind of mix the academics with ‘real life’ stuff.”
On Thursday, students were practicing how to conduct interviews on a podcast.
Juniors Daniel Irakoze and John Britton said they wanted to take digital media because they like music — though the latter admitted having his uncle teach the class was a factor, too.
“They don’t have this class at Rocky (Rock Island High School), so that’s one thing that does stand out too,” John said.
Their classmate, junior Jakayla Walsh, said she wanted to take the class after hearing stellar reviews from other students.
“I heard it was the most fun class, and that we get to do a lot of different stuff,” she said. “I like that we get to make beats … different kinds of beats, with different instruments.”
TMLC students learn sound engineering from an app called BandLab — allowing them to work on assignments, or fine-tune their creative skills, from home without needing any fancy equipment.
“I do it on my own time,” Daniel said, later adding he’s interested in pursuing music as a career after graduating.
“I know how to rap,” John chimed in.
Students in the class make their sound-producer debuts by making three to five intro beats for their future podcasts, which they can customize.
“They learn the whole concept and history of beat production in hip hop ... but we (also) make them well-rounded. They have to learn how to put together some rock stuff,” Britton said. “They learn that, if they're a producer, they might have clients who don't want sounds they (students) like.”
Students practice their communication skills, podcasting etiquette and digital audio workspaces fluency by giving “mock” interviews with TMLC staff. After fall break, they’ll start developing their own, unique podcasts about various topics of their choosing.
“That's when it gets really interesting,” Chris Britton said, adding that students also pick up team-building skills through podcasting.
Acting as the “host” of a podcast can be daunting to some, he said.
“But the team-building aspect is understanding that everyone can still play a part. We need somebody who’s writing the (scripts), doing the beats the same as we need somebody,” hosting, Britton said.
While some, like Daniel, prefer the production aspect of podcasting, Jakayla has enjoyed learning how to wield the mic.
“It’s going to be fun to do interviews and (figure out) questions to ask,” she said. “If you like music, or if you like to talk (and) get to know people, this would be a good class for you.”
No matter which element of digital media a student might favor, Britton is seeing positive outcomes from the class.
“Honestly, I'm just thankful for the district and administration to see like that in alternative space, we can use these alternative methods to help the students do something they might not be interested in at first,” he said. “I’m seeing the academic enrichment we want in (Rock Island-Milan)."
CREATIVITY TO A CAREER
Nate Wirth graduated from Thurgood Marshall in 2020, after attending Rock Island High School up until his mid-junior year.
Until starting Britton’s creative writing class, Wirth said he was just “going through the motions” at Thurgood Marshall.
Now, he’s in the process of drafting his first sci-fi novel.
“I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to pursue creative writing as a career at the time,” Wirth said. “(Britton’s class) was honestly very inspiring. … He was always very passionate about everything we did and was always super happy to hear our creative voices in any context.”
At Rock Island High School, he recalls having “a lot of issues” with his social life and turning in schoolwork. But Wirth said Britton’s hands-on teaching style was the “perfect match” for him as a learner.
“Not only that, but at the time, he was one of the few people who genuinely believed in my creations and my aspirations,” Wirth said. “That definitely helped out a lot with motivation as well, keeping me on the right track.”
To Wirth, his teachers were the “best part” of his time at TMLC.
“My teachers were a lot more receptive to me and my struggles with schoolwork at times,” he said, later adding he thinks alternative education programs (and students) tend to get a “bad rap.”
“I feel like one of the biggest misconceptions about alternative education is that it’s either the bad kids or the burnout kids,” Wirth added. “But that’s not what alternative education centers are for … It had a positive impact on me, and could have a positive impact on another teenager like me.”
Current Thurgood Marshall junior John Britton has had a similarly positive experience, citing his “character development.”
“I ain't gonna lie, I wasn’t going to graduate if I stayed at Rocky,” he said. “So it helped me a lot academically, and it just helped me get out of that ‘little kid’ mindset I was in.”
Wirth said he was also given the option to complete “alternative” essay assignments in some classes at Thurgood Marshall, allowing him to sharpen his writing skills outside of Britton’s class.
“At a certain point I just started doing them for fun, extra credit aside,” he said.
Even in the midst of world-building his first novel, Wirth still takes time to write other fun projects on the side. He’s recently gotten into poetry via Narratives QC, a Rock Island nonprofit offering free spoken-word poetry classes on Wednesdays — coincidentally, taught by Chris Britton.
“When he graduated, I didn't know how much some of the creative writing stuff would stick,” Britton said of Wirth. “So to hear that he’s been working on that (novel) for the last few years was amazing, it was amazing.”
Come spring, Wirth also plans to pursue a creative writing degree at either Western Illinois University Quad-Cities or Black Hawk College.
“The best thing he (Britton) taught me was to just ‘jump’ into things; don’t think about it too much and just write,” Wirth said, admitting he’s struggled with perfectionism in the past. “Get whatever you want to get out of your system, on paper … you can move on to final details later.”
He tries to use that approach with his own creative writing process. Having started brainstorming his novel’s world-building and plot as a teenager, Wirth said he’s since learned a lot.
“I do have a detailed roadmap now of how I want the story to be written,” he said. “All need to do now is just write it.”
©2024 Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
