2020 Ennis Nominee: Todd Hatfield
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What CTE teacher Todd Hatfield realized as he built the foundation for the Multimedia Career Pathway was that students - provided the right tools and context - could take their storytelling beyond basic reports of school events and, in addition, link Hersey students to meaningful civic events of national and global importance.
Envisioning a Multimedia Career Pathway with this kind of reach, Todd nurtured a professional and collaborative relationship with Eastem Illinois and Loyola universities that guided him in revamping the journalism course into a real world career pathway to prepare students for college and beyond. With this in mind, Todd built a client base, as it were, for students’ work by contacting friends and relatives who might benefit from students’ work in photography, graphics, visual storytelling or web development. The approach succeeded, giving students the chance to design a menu, build a website and shoot drone footage. This gave students a portfolio to find additional work.
“The goal never changed. Giving students as authentic of an experience as possible was always in the forefront”
Todd's students cover sports and John Hersey happenings. They also go well beyond. They have done exceptional work in telling veterans’ stories and offering support. Students have traveled to home builds for disabled veterans in Tennessee, Texas and Illinois. They reached out to local experts at Chicago's Road Home in order to produce a video to educate Hersey students on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Led by Todd, Hersey has raised thousands of dollars for A Soldier's Journey Home.
“Todd has demonstrated a commitment to not only our Multimedia program, but has continued to take on an active role in the development of students' capacities as innovative and intellectual citizens on the District forefront by being an active ambassador of all our schools as they have transformed journalism into the Multimedia pathway,” wrote Hersey's English Division Head, Dr. Patty Grow. “With the live YouTube channel, students from all across the District gain real life broadcast and production experience through the opportunities that Todd offers, such as live sporting events, graduation and school-wide and community events.”
Todd says of the pathway: “The goal never changed. Giving students as authentic of an experience as possible was always in the forefront.”
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