New feature in BHS annual links students to online video

The Bearden High School Yearbook? There’s an app for that. Annual Staff will issue yearbooks on Thursday, this year with an innovative technological feature. Each yearbook includes 10 QR codes that can instantly link students via the World Wide Web to video clips documenting life at BHS for the 2011-2012 school year. “Anyone with access to the internet can view the videos,” Echo co-editor Lacy Adorante said. “If you have a Smartphone, all you have to do is download a QR code reader app (most are free) and then scan the app with your phone. “If you don’t have a smart phone, a web address is located below the code itself. You just type that into a computer, and you can watch the videos that way.” Each of the 10 videos lasts around three to four minutes and focuses on a specific area of the Bearden community, from academics to athletics. “They will feature activities from the school year, including sporting events, club meetings, Powder Puff, Second Harvest, and students at school and in classes,” staff member Kathleen Vavalides said. Annual Staff has been responsible for filming and editing all material so that it will be ready for students as soon as yearbooks are released on Thursday. The only video that will remain unavailable until after the end of the school year is the senior video (not to be confused with the WOW video which is produced by BBN and shown at senior celebration) so that footage from graduation may be included. Once online, the videos will remain on the Balfour server for up to 30 years. “The videos allow the yearbook to be a lot more interactive for students,” Vavalides said. “Not only are they going to be able to see a quick recap of the year when they get the book, but they will also be able to access the videos years from now and remember high school.” Adorante describes the transition from photography to videography for the staff as “a true learning experience”. She also hopes the new multimedia aspect of the book will help to reinforce the theme: “BE”. “When choosing the theme ‘BE’ we considered how our videos could convey exactly what we were wanting," Adorante said. "We hope that the videos will allow BHS students to look back on their high school lives and remember how high school enabled them to be whatever they wanted to be. "We really tried to capture the emotion and diversity in high school." Extra yearbooks will be on sale during third period on Thursday for $100 cash only. Rachel Riley is the news editor for The Bark. Follow The Bark on Twitter @BeardenBARK and like The Bark (Bearden High School) on Facebook.