Spring Hill Middle School technology teacher and wrestling coach Tom Carbajo spends his free time filming school activities throughout the school year to use as footage for a video montage he produces with the help of school counselor Deb Taylor each year. Carbajo takes that footage and combines it with other outtakes and clips parents submit for the video. (Jennifer McDaniel / jennifermcdaniel@miconews.com)
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Frame by frame, teacher produces video keepsake for students
Carbajo admits video production takes time, but is a labor of love for his students
By Jennifer McDaniel, jennifermcdaniel@miconews.com
Tucked back in a corner of the technology classroom in Spring Hill Middle School, Tom Carbajo sits in front of two computer monitors.
Patiently, he rewinds a videotape. Images from the eighth-grade play flash on the screen, as Carbajo grabs a pen to jot down where the exact moment he wants to capture appears on the tape.
It’s an exercise he’s repeated over and over during the past few days and weeks leading up to next week’s eight-grade promotion activities at the school. Sitting just three steps away, several piles of matchbox-sized tapes are neatly stacked on the counter, evidence of just how many more he needs to watch.
For more than 12 years, Carbajo has spent the time leading up to the school’s awards assembly and promotion producing a special gift to the eighth-grade class as they make their way from middle school to high school.
Each year, time is set aside during the eighth-graders’ awards assembly the morning of their promotion to watch the production. In 35 minutes, images of the entire class flash on the screen. A montage of moments from a newborn baby being weighed in a hospital nursery to first birthdays and first steps open the video. Other moments show each student in a series of three photographs as they have grown from a toddler to elementary school and then as a middle school student. Moments from the school year round out the production, showing clips from sporting events, assemblies, concerts and plays.
“It’s really become a huge part of the promotion activities,” Carbajo said. “We didn’t really know how big a hit it would be. It does take time, but it’s worth it. I think kids and their parents really appreciate it. It’s something they can keep. This class it a pretty tight-knit group. I could seem them showing it at a reunion.”
Principal Steve Fleer said the project has developed into a highly anticipated part of the annual assembly.
“Give Tom the credit. He’s the one who originally came up with the idea,” Fleer said. “And it’s just developed from there. I think the kids and the parents very much look forward to it each year.”
Much of the footage used in the video is filmed throughout the year by Carbajo himself, while other portions are submitted by parents.
“Parents thank me just because it gives them the opportunity just to go through their videos, and they say we just cried all night finding the right clip for you,” he said.
The project is a challenge, both Carbajo and school counselor Deb Taylor admit. Including just the right moments, making sure each student is included and keeping within time constraints can be difficult, they said, especially with a class of more than 160 students. And that challenges grows each year as more and more students come into the district.
Even finding the right music can be a challenge.
“We have to pick just the right music to go with each scene because it helps set a tone,” Taylor said. “It’s supposed to tell a story.”
And while Carbajo and Taylor spend a significant amount of time on the project, they wouldn’t even think about not producing the special class gifts each year.
“It’s a positive thing,” she said. “It’s a good way to send the group on to the next building.”
“It’s worth every minute of it,” Carbajo said. “When you go to the assembly, and the kids see a baby picture on the screen and they can recognize that same grin, and they think or know who it is, they laugh, or when they cheer when someone makes a basket in a game. It’s those things that make it worthwhile.
That three-second clip brings back a ton of memories. It brings back a lot more than those three seconds, and then they remember so much more.”
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Patiently, he rewinds a videotape. Images from the eighth-grade play flash on the screen, as Carbajo grabs a pen to jot down where the exact moment he wants to capture appears on the tape.
It’s an exercise he’s repeated over and over during the past few days and weeks leading up to next week’s eight-grade promotion activities at the school. Sitting just three steps away, several piles of matchbox-sized tapes are neatly stacked on the counter, evidence of just how many more he needs to watch.
For more than 12 years, Carbajo has spent the time leading up to the school’s awards assembly and promotion producing a special gift to the eighth-grade class as they make their way from middle school to high school.
Each year, time is set aside during the eighth-graders’ awards assembly the morning of their promotion to watch the production. In 35 minutes, images of the entire class flash on the screen. A montage of moments from a newborn baby being weighed in a hospital nursery to first birthdays and first steps open the video. Other moments show each student in a series of three photographs as they have grown from a toddler to elementary school and then as a middle school student. Moments from the school year round out the production, showing clips from sporting events, assemblies, concerts and plays.
“It’s really become a huge part of the promotion activities,” Carbajo said. “We didn’t really know how big a hit it would be. It does take time, but it’s worth it. I think kids and their parents really appreciate it. It’s something they can keep. This class it a pretty tight-knit group. I could seem them showing it at a reunion.”
Principal Steve Fleer said the project has developed into a highly anticipated part of the annual assembly.
“Give Tom the credit. He’s the one who originally came up with the idea,” Fleer said. “And it’s just developed from there. I think the kids and the parents very much look forward to it each year.”
Much of the footage used in the video is filmed throughout the year by Carbajo himself, while other portions are submitted by parents.
“Parents thank me just because it gives them the opportunity just to go through their videos, and they say we just cried all night finding the right clip for you,” he said.
The project is a challenge, both Carbajo and school counselor Deb Taylor admit. Including just the right moments, making sure each student is included and keeping within time constraints can be difficult, they said, especially with a class of more than 160 students. And that challenges grows each year as more and more students come into the district.
Even finding the right music can be a challenge.
“We have to pick just the right music to go with each scene because it helps set a tone,” Taylor said. “It’s supposed to tell a story.”
And while Carbajo and Taylor spend a significant amount of time on the project, they wouldn’t even think about not producing the special class gifts each year.
“It’s a positive thing,” she said. “It’s a good way to send the group on to the next building.”
“It’s worth every minute of it,” Carbajo said. “When you go to the assembly, and the kids see a baby picture on the screen and they can recognize that same grin, and they think or know who it is, they laugh, or when they cheer when someone makes a basket in a game. It’s those things that make it worthwhile.
That three-second clip brings back a ton of memories. It brings back a lot more than those three seconds, and then they remember so much more.”