By Jason Gabak
Editor

According to Kari Hammond, an English teacher at Fayetteville-Manlius, FMTV has been a staple of the F-M community since about 2001.
As schools worked to address things like lesson plans and working via distance learning and providing meals, Hammond said it has been a challenging time.
But by taking advantage of current technology like smartphones and streaming video platforms like Youtube, Hammond and her students have found a way to keep an important part of F-M school life on track.
Working with her co-teacher, AV specialist Jason MaKay, Hammond has started FMTV with installments posted on Youtube once or twice a week,
“We let everyone get settled,” Hammond said. “As teachers we were thinking about what we could do and we thought this was something we could still do.”
Hammond and Makay reached out to the administration and received support for the idea as well as from students.
Under normal circumstances, the FMTV program, which is part of the English department, operates with professional studio equipment including cameras and lights as well as editing tools.
In order to follow social distancing guidelines, Hammond and her students are improvising, using their phones to record segments and sending them on to Hammond for editing into the video segments which usually run around three minutes or so.
Through these videos students are sharing announcements from the school as well as the larger community.
In the video dated March 19, students shared information on online instruction, when students and parents could pick up personal items from the schools and how school meals would be made available.
This installment also looked at the needs of the F-M food pantry, which servers more than 160 families, according to the video.
The video suggested considering making a donation to the food pantry which is located 122 E. Seneca St. and accepts donations Mondays and Thursday from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
The video also shared tips on how to use online library resources like checking out a digital or audio book.
There were also suggestions to help keep busy like keeping a journal of what is going on now and keeping it as a historic record of all that happened during this challenging time in history.
The students also shared a message of hope, saying that everyone is in this together and will get through this together with hope and kindness.
Hammond said so far this effort has gone well and students have enjoyed making these segments.
“This is something we can do to try to give students a sense of normalcy,” Hammond said. “We are not able to be together, but this is a way we can come together for a common purpose and show that we are all in the same boat right now.”
As everyone adjusts, Hammond hopes to possibly have several videos posted each week.