Scorza's video class develops career skills

Patti Rasmussen · July 26, 1997

The video showed Carol Rock patiently calling out the names of the first place winners in the recent Fourth of July parade. Saugus High junior Chris Marashlian watched it intently, waiting for someone to come forward to accept their award. It seems that very few winners showed up in Newhall Park that day, and Chris needed to edit the film for his class.

Marashlian is one of eight students enrolled in Advanced TV, an ROP (Regional Occupational Program) class provided by the William S. Hart Union High School District. This six-week summer course is being held at College of the Canyons in the new media building, and is being taught by Mr. Phil Scorza.

Scorza is well-known on the SCVTV Public Access channel (channel 20) as the creator, producer and host of "Points of Interest" which leads viewers through a video history of the Santa Clarita Valley. Scorza brought the idea of a district cable show -- "Hart TV" -- to his boss and received permission to produce four shows depicting special and everyday events in the Hart School District. Thinking the students should have the chance to produce these videos, an ROP class soon was offered in Beginning Video.

Tricia White-Kampe was one of Scorza's first students. A senior at Valencia High, White-Kampe enrolled in Beginning Video because "it sounded interesting." She now has aspirations for a career in Broadcast Journalism and plans to continue her education at COC, then on to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Another student, who goes by the name of "Pedestrian JW", also admits that the ROP class has encouraged him to pursue a college education and a career as a sound engineer "or a pyro technician." Dressed in black, Ped JW says the class "is interesting when you're done (filming), but when you are doing it, it's a little tedious."

Scorza says the students pick a subject and then have to fulfill three of four requirements to pass the class: producing, editing, camera operating or being on-camera. The students recently edited a complete a video collection of their last semester. It will be shown on public access as soon as school resumes in the fall.

Koren Young, a senior at Valencia High School, got interested in video editing when he transferred from Saugus High in his junior year. He was drawn to the technology at Valencia High, especially the morning broadcast shown in all classrooms. Young, who plans to become a film director, along with his friend Adam Coorey, a Valencia High junior, were given permission to change the screen saver on the monitors, and soon the two students got very creative and were told that fellow students were looking forward to the new screen savers each day.

Other students in the summer program include Cheryl Richards, Mike Mansfield and Brandon Gordon.

Students five credits in ROP classes. Dr. Bill White, director of ROP, is pleased at the partnerships these classes have made with businesses (such as Susan Shapiro at SCVTV) and the City of Santa Clarita. A single-district ROP since 1982 -- it has its own board of directors -- the school district is able to customize the program with funding directly from the state. These classes are offered to all high school students age 16 or older, as well as adults. White reports a 92 percent completion rate and occasionally hears from former students who have chosen their careers in the fields they studied in ROP.

Hart TV airs a 30-minute program every two weeks on channel 20, Monday nights at 9:30 with reruns on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

I've often heard it said that every child needs a mentor. It was heartwarming to see Phil Scorza interact with his students, and how much his students were learning from him. Every child has a talent, and teachers such as Scorza, do their best to see those talents emerge.

Don't forget to check out this talent on Monday and Wednesday nights!

The Trustees Association, comprised of board members from Newhall, Sulphur Springs, Saugus, Castaic, Hart and the Santa Clarita Community College District, would like to remind you that they will be holding an information meeting on Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hart District offices for those interested in running for a seat on the school board. The informal meeting will give you information on filing requirements, finances, the Brown Act, and much, much more.

It takes a special individual to dedicate this time to all children. If you are one of these, or feel you might be that certain individual, please give Susan Edwards a call at 805-254-0324 for more information.