After just a couple of months developing the films, video students at Dartmouth High School presented their final recycling commercials for the Greater New Bedford Refuse Management District on Nov. 20. 

The commercials provide tips on ways to recycle and reasons to do so. 

To create the public service announcements, students first created storyboards for their ideas, then presented them to Waste Reduction Manager Marissa Perez-Dormitzer and then began filming. At first, there were some mistakes that needed to be corrected, but the finished commercials will soon be ready to air.

“They’re kids, they’re learning,” said Rob Perrotti, lead teacher for DHSTVMedia. 

The commercials will air on DHSTVMedia as part of its running shows and on Dartmouth Community Media. New Bedford Recycling will post the videos on their social media channels. 

As part of the commercial project, lead teacher Rob Perrotti also ran a fundraising drive for a new camera. 

The project was fully funded, largely by a Dartmouth High School alumnus that found out about the drive, Perrotti said. AllState Insurance matched the funding, which allowed them to get a new, better camera for the classroom. 

DHSTVMedia will now work with the town clerk on voter registration public service announcements, and is considering repeating the recycling project with an introductory class next semester. 

“Now we have a brand new tool to use too, which is nice,” Perrotti said. “It makes the quality and the production even higher.”

The site has a couple more projects on DonorsChoose, a scholastic crowdfunding site, that are still looking for funding. Active fundraisers are for a gimbal, which keeps the camera steady, and a multiview box for the classroom’s video wall. On the “Day of Giving” Nov. 28, all donations on the site will be matched by at least 50 percent. 

“If anyone wants to donate throughout the year, we’re always running projects on there,” Perrotti said.