Cathedral Catholic American Sign Language teacher Mr. Dano Kaufmann recently self-produced a video directed towards the LIGHT groups here on campus. Mr. Kaufmann made the film to portray the positive effects that these groups have had both on students and faculty around the school.
The video was directed towards seniors, but was created for all students who partake in LIGHT group activities. When gathered for LIGHT group meetings, in particular, the seniors’ positive energy and wonderful sense of community quickly persuaded Mr. Kauffman to make the iMovie to share with others.
When LIGHT groups meet, there is always a structured agenda to go by that is both fun and informative to students. Some are led by teachers while others are led by senior Campus Ministers.
During the last LIGHT group meeting, students sat around in a circle with one person holding a ball of yarn while sharing with the rest of the group something that they fear for the future. Once they stated their fear, they would then hold onto the end of the string and toss the ball to another classmate. This was repeated until everyone had a chance to share, and by the end of the activity it created a web of yarn crossed with one another. Then, the last person who ended the activity would share something they were looking forward to in the future. After that they would toss the ball of yarn back to the previous person, going in reverse, and eventually the intertwined yarn would be undone and back to its original state.
“Creating iMovies is a fun way to entertain people with the images and videos that are important to us. There is entertainment value to them as well as ansense of pride,” said Mr. Kaufmann
Opening with powerful music and a quote, “Those who fear the darkness have no idea what the light can do,” the video shows just how close all who participate in LIGHT group events and activities have become. It has proven to bring both teachers and their respective students closer to each other as well as to allow those in the groups to become closer to one another in a more relaxed and easygoing environment.
The tenor of these groups is respect and reverence. “It is quite a pleasure to notice students getting along with each other, especially as they each have such different backgrounds and upbringing,” said Mr. Kaufmann.
Expectations from LIGHT groups are straightforward and seem to be easily met this year. Mr. Kaufmann said, “I expect classes to have respect and portray a positive attitude, and a demonstration of good moral character.” With expectations like these, the ESLRs (Expected Schoolwide Learning Results) can come in handy to both leaders and students.
In regards to the video, Mr. Kaufmann has simple yet important expectations. “I hope people will enjoy watching it and be motivated to create their own iMovie. I am more than happy to teach anyone to make an iMovie of their own. Using the iPad version of the iMovie can be tricky, but it just takes practice and patience. It can be a lot of fun!”