Class of 2020: TODAY to follow students for 13 years
Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007 11:25 AM by Jaclyn Levin
(From Curtis Vogel, TODAY Producer)
During my 20 years of producing stories for broadcast television, I’ve probably done a couple of hundred stories on education, and the logistical problem with doing those pieces is always the same. You’re trying to put a face on a story that is usually pegged around test scores, school board politics or a Supreme Court decision. The task is made all the more difficult because you have a limited amount of time to visit the school and try to see how all of these external forces affect the teachers’ efforts in the classroom.
Two parents of my closest childhood friends were teachers. One of my close childhood friends became a teacher herself. Now, my wife’s sister is in her third year of teaching elementary school. For years, I have listened to stories from these teachers about some of the amazing things that happen in the classroom, but they are moments that very few people outside of teachers get to see.
Earlier this year, the Today Show’s executive producer, Jim Bell, put out a memo about our show being #1 for 600 weeks in a row and challenged us to maintain that success by doing meaningful stories for our viewers. I married that challenge to my desire to show how teachers do their very difficult jobs, and the result is a new Today Show franchise called “Class of 2020”.
The concept is simple. Follow a class of students from their first day of kindergarten all the way through high school graduation to show how today’s kids get an education in the public school system. It’s an unprecedented chance to chronicle a child’s elementary and secondary education from start to finish, and an opportunity to highlight the job of one of our most difficult but respected professions – teaching.
After a lot of long and serious discussions with administrators, principals and teachers, we found a public school in the Los Angeles area with a diverse student body, a long history of strong parental involvement and a great reputation in the community. The parents of the kindergarten class were kind enough to let us be a part of their lives and their children’s lives because they believe in the potential of this series to show what it takes to make a public school successful in today’s political and financial environment.
Natalie Morales (right) is the perfect correspondent for this series, because she has a four-year-old son who will be entering kindergarten next year, and she’s eager to watch and learn from these kids and teachers just like many of our Today show viewers who are parents of young children.
The first installment of “Class of 2020” will air on Friday, September 14. You’ll see the kids’ first day of class and meet all of them when Natalie interviews them and their teacher and principal live via satellite from their school. From there, we will update their progress every couple of weeks throughout the school year from now until 2020.
I hope you’ll join us for what is sure to be an interesting journey.
