Lunch for the Soul livestream: FOX 26 interns help create set
HOUSTON - Many of our anchors and reporters at FOX 26 bring you livestreams each week. Now, we're all working to make them look even better for you!
Each Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., I share inspirational stories with you through my digital program, Lunch for the Soul. I typically do this segment in our newsroom, but we're working on a new look and feel for it to make it feel more like home.
Our FOX 26 interns have been on board the project! We got to meet up with them on their own stomping grounds, at the university where they built a mock set.
The mastermind behind it all is Dr. Cesare Wright. He's actually a former FOX 26 intern himself, who went on to become an Editor at FOX 26, before going on to receive his PhD, starting his own non-profit, and teaching communications courses. He's now the Program Director of Microsoft VIP.
"This set came about because when COVID hit, it transformed our lives dramatically. People started working from home, using telemedicine more, and talk to pretty much any kid who wants to be an influencer or YouTuber and most people think that it's out of their reach. I want to demonstrate that it's not, so we built this set entirely from found materials, all of this fence wood, our students that are interns at FOX now actually built this entire set," states Dr. Wright.
"It was a great experience. I never would have imagined that we could have made a set this different with just a couple of hundred dollars," says FOX 26 intern Desi Delvalle.
Giovanna Ramirez is impressed with their leader!
"I think that it's amazing that we have a professor who's so supportive of us and who will take time out of his day to actually help us create this and show us how to do it for our future endeavors," explains Gio.
FOX 26 intern Becca Alcozer got to learn how to chop and prepare wood for the set. She also put her computer skills to the test and created a new countdown and graphics package for Lunch for the Soul!
"There's nothing like hands-on experience and being able to attach skills to actually helping people is amazing, so thank you for the opportunity. Thank you to FOX 26 and Cesare Wright, as well," states Becca.
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Dr. Wright is teaching all kinds of professionals, including doctors.
"When I first created Microsoft VIP, which was to help people gain virtual literacy skills, and I believe we're facing the next digital divide. The first was people who had access to computers. The second was people having the ability to use computers, and in this post-COVID workforce, the ability to create and lead high-quality virtual engagements and events, or just joining a meeting and know that you know how to operate your camera. Everything looks and sounds great, so that's what we did with Microsoft VIP. Our goal is really to expand that globally, through partnerships with companies like TrueLeap, which we are expanding to over 2 million students worldwide. But the cool thing is everything we do is 100% free. Again, 100% free. This doesn't have to be expensive. So not only the set decoration, the cameras, the equipment doesn't have to be expensive, but we make this training free and available through Microsoft VIP. As you can tell, I'm very casual - feel free to reach out anytime to learn more about our programs and everything that our amazing students here have done, you can do and integrate it into your own life," encourages Dr. Wright.
Before we wrapped up, Dr. Wright reflected some special moments, after meeting up with his FOX family again, from decades ago.
"I just want to give two shout-outs! Thank you, Melissa, for making all this happen! You had started working at FOX 26 around the time I did my internship at FOX. And then behind the camera right now is Darlene, who actually taught me how to operate the camera. I was 20 years old and just starting, and now I've gotten to take those skills and share them with students," states a smiling Dr. Wright.
His students all tell me they adore him and learned more from him than anyone who has ever taught them. Certainly, a positive crowd to help tweak a show, like Lunch for the Soul!
For more information about the free program, you can head to www.kinoeyecenter.com and Dr. Wright encourages anyone who wants to learn more to reach out to him at cesare@kinoeyecenter.com