From Welding to Film: Crafting Educational Magic

0:00 Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. We are here at LACU with Anthony Parker. Anthony. Parker, thank you for joining us today? Yes, I'm glad to be here. Yeah, he's there with, is it Northeast High School? Northeast High School In East Baton Rouge? Yes, sir, all right, I am Devin Pintosi, your host, and we're going to get started, all right? All right, anthony, tell us a little bit about yourself. Oh, I teach at Northeast High School. I've been teaching two years. Before teaching I was actually a certified welder. I've been doing it for 13 years, wow. So what got you into teaching? What got me into teaching was I went to school in Los Angeles, california Okay, and in film.

0:43 So I went to school in Los Angeles, california Okay, and in film. So I went to Los Angeles Film School, did four years, got my bachelor's in that, but prior to me being in there, I was doing movies while I was in school. Oh, wow. So I was also teaching on set everything that I was learning in school. Wow so. I said, oh, I might as well just go ahead and join the educational field. I saw signs everywhere. They're looking for teachers. So I went into the sub field. So I went in as a paraprofessional. So I started learning while in the paraprofessional, which is a sub. So, as I'm subbing, I'm learning, so I started liking it.

1:23 The principal came to me and she saw how good I was going and the kids loved me. I said well, man, we're going to give it a shot. The whole school liked me. Oh, there you go, give it a shot. This is actually my second year. Well, sorry, I'm pushing the gun. I'm pushing the gun. Let me go back a little bit. January is going to make a year. Okay, january, they brought me on to be a teacher in January. Wonderful, I just made teacher of the year. Oh congratulations. So I'm teacher of the year at Northeast High School. Wonderful, wonderful, that's awesome. That's great. I understand you're going to at Northeast High School Wonderful.

2:05 Wonderful, that's awesome. That's great. I understand you're going to be coaching next year too, and then I'll also be coaching. So the kids, they like the movies that I actually produce. Oh nice, the school wanted me to teach digital media broadcasting and photography. Oh wow, what kind of movies do you produce? Action film, Really. I also got my students broadcasting and photography. Oh wow, what kind of movies do you produce? Oh, action film really. I also got my students. Right now we're working on a project. It's a zombie film called fady impact. Oh nice that we're shooting at the school right now. Our first project with my students that we filmed well, it's gonna be a movie. Oh, that's great. So where can uh? Where can uh people from lacue if they want to see your work or want to see your students' work?

2:47 Where can they see that? Actually they can go on our Instagram page and type up Surviving Northeast. They can also see the morning announcements and see the photography shots. They can see the students at work. Oh, wow, live. That is awesome. That is awesome and what a great experience for the students and getting them involved in film and the entertainment industry right from the get-go, right in high school. Yeah, yeah, that's incredible. Wow, you're doing a lot of things there. I got a lot of things going on and it motivates me to keep going. Yeah. And I'm going past the educational field and teaching, I also go to LSU. Oh wonderful, what's your master's?

3:31 in Educational leadership. Educational leadership To be a principal oh nice, wonderful Good for you. You're getting all set up here. This is great. So tell me a bit about did you have a special time where you felt like the students were really getting it you want to share with us? Oh man, I got a lot, I got plenty, but I'm going to speak on this one. I had one student that didn't like my class at all. They just put him in there. The guidance counselor just threw him in there just give them an extra class that they needed. They didn't need that class, but they had to have that class. Any other class?

4:11 but they just threw them in that class because they needed it. They filled up the room, the space. I kept having problems. They didn't want to get up, they didn't want to participate. I said I got something for them. I started learning that student and what that student liked and I started adding it to the curriculum. She started helping. I got a leader in my class. She started helping him, and when she started helping him, he liked her. She started helping him. He started getting excited and it motivated him to participate in everything that I had going on in class.

4:52 And guess what? That student's the top of the class now. Oh wow, what a wonderful story. That is great. It's great to see those happening Right now. See that success going Guess what. The leader that helped him. He topped her wow, wow. That is wonderful. That's just that, that leadership and and people helping each other up through film and guess what all that he motivates me too. Oh wow, because he motivated me, because I was giving up. Oh my god, I was giving up on him. I was about to get him put into another clan and I said no, I believe I can get him, I can mold him, I can get him.

5:33 Oh, that's awesome, and I got him. That's great, Anthony. What an incredible story. So now you're here at LACU. What are you hoping to get out of this conference that you're going to take back to your kids? Okay, so I'm actually here down with esports, so we down here, down the whole esports team, we down here to kind of build the team out this way so my whole esports EBR. Esports from Baton. Rouge. We out here in the laws, so we networking to get more kids. So my whole eSports, EBR, eSports from Baton Rouge. We are here so we're networking to get more kids involved to the program, and to eSports, and to eSports Okay, but I wanted to come.

6:17 It's a trick, because you know I do film Okay. Right. I wanted to get networked with other people in digital media that's in other educational fields, in digital media. I was hoping to run across a couple of teachers that's actually doing what I'm doing. Wonderful and kind of exchange numbers, that's great. And work network together, that's wonderful, that's what I wanted to do, oh wow. Well, that's great. I hope you're able to, but I ran across y'all. That's great, that's great, that's great and we're part of that, hopefully for you, and I hope you also make other connections and you make a lot of them, you know, here at LeQ. Yes, sir, it would be a great thing. Yes, that's awesome. Do you have anything you'd like to share directly with? the LeQ community. Any message you want to share them, I would like to.

6:59 Don't give up. Don't give up. Continue to go for what you need. Don't give up. It's there for you. Don't give up, that's awesome. Thank you so much. That's Anthony Parker with Northeast High School in East Baton Rouge. Thank you so much for joining us today. Nice to be here with you, Devin All right. Thank you.