UM Students Produce TV Program on Montana Education - “Testing Times: Montana’s Struggle to Leave No Child Behind,” to air Thursday 5/20 at 7:00PM

May 20, 2004

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Radio-television students at The University of Montana-Missoula have produced a one-hour documentary on state schools that will air on Montana PBS at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 20.

The program, titled “Testing Times: Montana’s Struggle to Leave No Child Behind,” takes an in-depth look at how the federal No Child Left Behind Act is affecting schools in the state. It will air again at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 23.

Students found that the federal act, intended to hold public education accountable, is frustrating educators throughout the state, according to Ray Ekness, chair of the UM Radio-TV department.

Ekness said UM students visited small, mid-sized and large schools in different Montana locales. They also filmed a segment at an American Indian reservation school and conducted interviews with state and federal officials.

UM students who worked on the documentary, their roles and hometowns are:

* Dax Van Fossen, producer, Miles City.

* Marina Mackrow, director, Port Townsend, Wash.

* Phil Stempin, associate director, Columbia Falls.

* Steve Dent, field producer/writer, Bozeman.

* Abdullah Al-Matrook, field producer/photographer, Kuwait.

* Michelle Boehler, photographer/editor, Mandan, N.D.

* Jake Hanson, photographer/editor/graphics, Kirkland, Wash.

* Crystal Ligori, field producer/writer/narrator, Jackson, Wyo.

* Kevin Foy, photographer/editor, Shorewood, Wis.

* Aaron Selmanson, photographer/editor, Rapid City, S.D.

* Leslie Hunsaker, field producer/writer, Portland, Ore.

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