Educational Technology Weblog

Local television and YouTube sensation Damon Weaver from Canal Point/K.E. Cunningham Elementary has set a goal of interviewing President-elect Barack Obama at next year’s inauguration. But let’s allow Damon and his crew speak for themselves:

Now that you’ve seen the talented Damon in action (and let’s don’t forget the work of his dedicated teacher, Brian Zimmerman, who oversees the school’s KEC-TV and prefers to remain behind the scenes),here’s the big question:

What can you do to help his cause? It seems that funds are coming in, but it will take quite a bit of money to get Mr. Zimmerman and his students to Washington. Let’s see what they posted on YouTube:

Student reporter Damon Weaver, a student cameraperson, and two teacher chaperones will be going to the Inauguration in D.C. The students will create reports about their trip for their school. All of their reports will also be uploaded to this You Tube channel. Our school is still working on raising enough money for the trip. The entire trip will cost around $4,000. If you are interested in helping please make a check or money order to KEC/Canal Point Elementary and send it to:

KEC/Canal Point Elementary

Attention: Brian Zimmerman

37000 Main Street

Canal Point, FL 33438

For more info see this article in The Palm Beach Post that discusses Damon’s goal.

And for more Damon, you’ll want to see his full interview with Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade. Absolutely, positively worth the few minutes it takes to see Damon bring out the best in a sports star.

I followed a link the other day from Gary Stager to a video of a 5th Grade student interviewing Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden and was nearly bowled over when I recognized the name of the school where the student was from. “Hey! That student is from Palm Beach County! K.E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary to be exact! Pretty cool! A nationally-known writer and speaker on educational technology topics points to a video from one of our very own.

After looking into the actual link on YouTube I realized that this interview was already an Internet sensation, and the interviewer, 5th-grader Damon Williams, was already attracting widespread acclaim. With well over 300,000 (!) views on YouTube Damon was already well-known around the world.

And you know what? It’s well-deserved. Be sure to watch the whole video to get Damon’s closing words on this interview.

(The video has been moved over to our District’s dedicated video service so you can watch this even in places where YouTube is blocked.)