CruBlog

Would you buy a product if it had more features than another but cost a little more? Does a cool pop song playing in the background draw your attention to a product faster? High school Crusaders in our new Critical Thinking and Writing Workshop on Media Literacy this summer are learning how to analyze media messages. They are paying special attention to how product developers communicate sales messages about their products using different media.

The capstone project for the two-week class requires students to develop a product concept, a PowerPoint sales message, and an advertising storyboard for presentation to a panel of responders. On July 23, two teams of students presented new cell phone concepts they had invented for consideration. Joana Delva, Judson Laurent, and Josefa Nix described how their “IDroid” would merge two popular products into one. Tquio John, Jessica Moreno, and Christian Zapata explained how their “Sidekick OhDee” would make the world more connected. Both teams then conducted a focus group Q&A with the panel audience for feedback.

The instructor for this ambitious new course is Demian Yattaw, who teaches English and film at the Providence Academy of International Studies. The course curriculum was developed by David Ahlborn, a member of the English faculty at Wheeler School in Providence. Congratulations to all the adventurous Crusaders who are piloting the course with us!