Student Work

IU NewsNet’s logo flashes on screen.

Hello and welcome to the IU NewsNet Daily.

I’m Karli Vancleave, and I’m Katrina Nickell. Right now, thousands are marching in downtown Indianapolis wearing the color red. And over 100 school districts are closed for the day.

Footage of teachers and students walking with signs and wearing red clothes is shown.

Why? It’s Red for Ed Day. Here in Monroe County Schools, they did not close, so University Elementary opted for a walkout. Students and their parents were invited to stand with teachers before classes began to show says support. Hoosier teachers are demanding better pay, a hold on teacher evaluations from the ilearn scores, and the removal of externship requirements.

The annual 36-hour Indiana University Dance Marathon took place this past weekend.

Video is shown from IUDM. Dancers are shown holding up signs with the amount of money raised that year written on them.

Records were broken this year with over $4.2 million raised for Riley’s Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. That amount is the most IU has ever raised. Families who were once or still are patients at Riley came to Bloomington to share their stories as inspiration for dancers to continue fundraising. There were plenty of tears and smiles shared along the way. For many, it was either their first or last IUDM, but all hope to continue the legacy of Dance Marathon.

Abby Siemen, IU junior:

I really wanted to be a mentor to the freshman. I thought it’d be really, really cool to be able to like inspire the next generation of dancers. And like, have like, someone that looks up to you like at the marathon and stuff.

Footage is shown of students dancing at the marathon.

The record-breaking total was $70,000 more than last year’s event.

Sunday may have been gloomy, but that didn’t stop locals from checking out the new Switchyard Park.

The new Switchyard Park sign is shown.

Located on West Grimes laying off the B-Line Trail, the new park was built on the former McDowell railroad switchyard, which was active from 1982 until 2000. The park spans over 65 acres and was officially opened on Saturday night with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Footage from the grand opening is shown, with people walking around, food trucks handing out grilled cheese, and people sitting at tables.

On Sunday, visitors had the opportunity to listen to live music, go on golf cart tours of the park, and grab snacks at the food trucks. Although the park is not completely finished, it is going to be a hotspot for locals.

Journalists and media professionals from all over the country came to Bloomington last Friday for the Media School’s annual Media Career Day. Students and faculty alike attended panels, workshops, and meet and greets throughout the day. Career Day covered a variety of media areas such as advertising, journalism, sports media, and public relations. The Walter Center for Career Achievement says these events are great opportunities for networking.

National Transgender Awareness Week began last week. And activists in Bloomington are doing their part to speak out on the issue. Around downtown you might be seeing names and ages spray painted on the sides of buildings.

Footage of names and ages spray painted onto the sides of buildings around Bloomington is shown.

Those names represent people who have been killed because of being transgender. Activists say there aren’t many conversations about this issue. National Transgender Awareness Week leads up to the International Transgender Day of Remembrance tomorrow on Nov. 20.

Last week a gunman opened fire at a high school near Los Angeles. The dramatic increase in incidents like that one brought together the IU Student Government and Union Board for a public discussion about gun violence.

Video of students holding flyers about the event is shown.

Almost a month after the Brickhouse shooting and in light of other off-campus shootings, students took the opportunity to express their opinions.

Students at the event are shown speaking and listening.

Attendees read anonymous stories of what happened the night of the Brickhouse shootings and some remembering coming face-to-face with the gunman. The panel allowed for questions, concerns, and comments on improvements to safety at IU.

Isabel Mishkin, IUSG president:

We know that what federal statute tells us and what IU policy says isn’t quite meeting the needs of students now. And so what we want is a different tool for students to actually be able to understand. This is what’s going on in the community.

A band is seen playing on stage.

To honor the house show community, the band Flower Mouth closed out the event.

As IU men’s soccer kicks off into the championship this season, IU NewsNet’s Connor Heinz has today’s sports recap. It was a wild 24 hours for Indiana, but when all is said and done Monday afternoon, the 2019 Big Ten champions are returning to the NCAA tournament as the number five overall seed with Sunday’s win over Michigan.

The IU men’s soccer team is shown celebrating after a win.

IU completed the revered double-double over the weekend in College Park, now having both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles in hand.

Todd Yeagley, IU head soccer coach:

Yesterday’s game was just, it was a battle, really kind of fight. Greg’s second half in particular when Lake started and fatigue. To do that and find a way to win in penalty kicks, so they could get another step for this team, just for confidence knowing that if we’re in that position again, it’s not uncharted territory, which is great.

Footage of the men playing is shown.

Penalty kicks where the name of the game in this year’s Big Ten tournament. Indiana secured revenge in a win over Maryland on Friday as Jack Maher came through late. The Hoosiers then followed that up in Sunday’s championship with Josh Pens’ game winner against the Wolverines. In addition to the help of a couple of huge saves from freshman keeper Roman Celetado.

The win made for a happy flight home to Bloomington and an exciting day after. The team gathered in Assembly Hall Monday afternoon to watch this year’s selection show, discovering they’d be the number five national seed.

Footage of the team sitting and cheering inside Assembly Hall is shown.

As IU will play the winner of Kentucky and Loyola Chicago Sunday in Bloomington.

For IU NewsNet, I’m Connor Heinz.

Students at Bedford Elementary School just outside Bloomington are already journalists in the making. The fourth and fifth grade students have turned their daily announcements into a daily newscast.

It’s the Stalker Wildcat News.

A screen counts down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Footage is shown of the fourth and fifth graders, Raiden and Mia, doing the morning announcements show.

Each morning, the Stalker Elementary Media Club puts on a newscast similar to ours here at IU NewsNet. It’s complete with announcements, weather, interviews and special reports.

Gage Brown, junior meteorologist is shown talking about the weather.

They even have a makeshift green-screen made out of green fabric. The five-minute-long newscasts are filmed the night before and edited by teacher Brian Young.

The children are shown filming the newscast.

So to encourage these students to stay involved in news, The IU Media School has actually invited them here today for a tour.

Karli is shown interviewing the teacher and students.

So what’s it been like creating this daily newscast?

It’s been a blast. These kids make it easier day by day to to make this news.

Well thank you so much.

And that’s all today for the IU NewsNet Daily. Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram page. I’m Katrina Nickell, and I’m Karli Vancleave. We’ll see you Thursday for the full IU NewsNet show. From all of us here at IU NewsNet and the students at Stalker Elementary School, thanks for watching!