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Photograph by Robert Scheer

Lee Kopp, right, teaches Subha Ravindhran how to improve interviewing skills.

Communication skills come Full Circle at Monta Vista

By Steve Enders

It's apparent when looking through jobs listings on any classified advertising page that businesses want to hire people who can communicate well.

Becoming a better communicator is the purpose of a class offered for the first time to Monta Vista High School students this year. The class is actually a series of three mass-media classes which, besides employing techniques of acting, speaking and group participation, also requires students to have a little fun and do a lot of homework as well.

The class is called Full Circle and is run by Sharon Prefontaine, a Monta Vista speech and media instructor. Prefontaine has enlisted a Bay Area company called Full Circle Productions to structure the class and do some of the teaching.

The company was founded in 1994 by actor John Howard Swain, who has helped business people, sports personalities and actors all become better communicators by teaching them skills that can boost their confidence either on or off camera.

They're using the same concept with Monta Vista students, as well as giving a look at a field they may not have previously considered.

Stephanie Kao, a 17-year-old senior, said that she likes the class because of its fast pace.

"It feels like we're moving all the time. We do a warm-up, some camera work and are learning how to concentrate."

Kao said that the class is also different because they get different teachers who rotate throughout the year, each providing different areas of study.

So far, they've done a lot of writing, filming and editing on computers and learned about how media affect society, Kao said. Moreover, the students have fun practicing in front of the camera. Although she said she probably won't take acting or television as a major in college, Kao said she might consider taking those types of classes as a minor.

Another goal of the class is self-examination and a realization of the way media shape individuals. To achieve this, instructor Lee Kopp said, the students keep an intensive journal and have to make collages that describe their personalities.

Swain said, "[The collage] is something nice in our program so they can get a definition of who they are."

Swain said that videotaping the kids serves as a great mirror that allows them to see themselves as they really are. With this technique, all the students are examined equally, and false perceptions of self tend to break down.

"The camera doesn't lie," Kopp said.

Kopp, an actor, teaches these skills to a group of juniors and seniors five times a week.

At first glance, the class looks like a lesson in television acting. There's a camera set up at the front of the room with a blue background. Kopp puts the class through a series of activities that trains the group in interviewing techniques.

He tells them to look into the camera lens but not too much, because it's just like looking someone in the eye. When you look someone in the eye too much, they feel violated, he says.

Swain said that the class is about teaching the students life skills, not acting skills.

"It puts everyone on a level playing field," he said. "Television is a powerful medium worldwide. We're using [television] to help everyone discover themselves."

"We don't try to point out the differences [among the kids] but point out the similarities," Swain added. "We break down the superiority complex."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 1, 1998.
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