Three days a week, high school TV Production classes produce and air “Good Morning Staples.” The 15-minute show is informative, lively, and always well done.
But few broadcasts compare to yesterday’s.
Every year the show pays tribute to Memorial Day. This time it focused on PFC Nick Madaras. A former Wilton High School soccer player, he was killed in Iraq. To honor his memory — and complete a project he’d begun — his parents, friends and total strangers collect soccer balls for shipment to Iraq and Afghanistan. American service members then give them to grateful children.
So far, over 30,000 “Kick For Nick” soccer balls have been distributed.
Nick’s parents were interviewed in the Staples Media Lab. They were joined by vice principal Richard Franzis — an Iraq veteran — and English teacher/former US Army Ranger Dan Geraghty, plus Staples soccer captain Sean Gallagher (who heads next month to the US Naval Academy).
The result was sobering, eye-opening — even awe-inspiring.
It’s often said that Westport youngsters live in a bubble; the real world never intrudes. It’s also said that the best education sometimes occurs outside the classroom.
Yesterday, Staples students got the best possible education — about real life, in the real world.
To view the “Good Morning Staples” show, click below.
Excellent. A very moving piece.