Marshall Girl Scouts make Nick News
May 21, 2010
Source: Sarah Lambert
Phone: 269-966-0589
Email: slambert@gannett.com
MARSHALL -- Local middle school students will make their Nickelodeon channel debut this fall, thanks to the efforts of two seventh-grade Girl Scouts.
About 100 kids were involved in shooting a Nick News special on Wednesday at Marshall Middle School, said school counselor Sally Nelson. Nelson coordinated the filming for students and staff.
"We're very excited to have Nickelodeon come here and we're proud of our students who were involved in this and made this happen." Nelson said.
Best friends Maddie Rayner and Alena Buczynski organized an anti-bullying week at their school last month as a way to earn their Silver Award for the Girl Scouts. The week focused on Massachusetts bullying victim Phoebe Prince, who killed herself after weeks of being targeted at her school.
Rayner and Buczynski spent more than 50 hours planning school announcements and events, which culminated in a candlelight vigil for Prince on April 22.
The week and its message attracted local politicians and media outlets. But the girls' work didn't end when the week wound down.
Rayner and Buczynski were featured in the May issue of People Magazine, said Maddie's mother, Beth Rayner. This may be what drew the attention of the New York-based Lucky Duck Productions.
"Lucky Duck, which produces Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, does research on topics to cover," said Nick spokesperson Maria Poulos. "Right now, since they are just shooting, they're in the very early stages of putting together the special."
Nick News producer Marty Toub and a small crew arrived at the school library Wednesday morning to begin filming.
"We're kind of re-creating, but keeping it real," Toub told Rayner and Buczynski, who were silent but composed as they prepared for their first scene.
Children from the school re-enacted parts of the anti-bullying week, including morning announcements, classroom lessons and interpersonal interactions.
Rayner and Buczynski were at the center of the day's activities, which ended in an interview at Rayner's house. The girls' mothers, Beth Rayner and Laura Buczynski, watched nearby, confessing that they hadn't slept the night before.
"I just am tremendously proud of both of them," Beth Rayner said. "I've never seen anything to this extent with a Girl Scout project or a school project or anything. I just am really proud to be a part of it."
There is no planned premier date for the special yet, Poulos said, but it should appear on the channel this fall.
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