By JOHN KEREZY, eyeoncleveland.com founder

PARMA HEIGHTS, DEC 30, 2025 — While their peers might be playing video games and using social messaging apps, a group of 12- and 13-year-olds at Parma Heights Christian Academy are mastering the art of video production. They’re enrolled in a video production class, an elective course meeting two days a week at the Academy.

It’s a fun learning experience for them.

“I’ve wanted to learn about how to make films for a long time,” says Melania, an eighth grader and one of the students enrolled in the class. “I’m most impressed with how much editing and up-front effort goes into making a video. You don’t see the people behind the camera at all. It’s a big process.”

Melania and her classmates are learning from one of the best in Jim Morrison, who began doing his first videos in the 1970s, 1980s corporately. Eminently qualified to teach the class, Morrison retired after a 40-year career at American Greetings, where he was director of multimedia productions and played an instrumental role in American Greetings’ growth in interactive technologies.

Morrison is also an adjunct instructor at West Virginia University, where he earned a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. There, he authored the Video Production for Marketing curriculum in 2020 and began teaching the course as well.

Additionally, Morrison has served on a special committee for the Ohio Dept. of Higher Education to provide strategic direction in developing curriculum for Interactive Multimedia programs for high schools and career centers across Ohio.

There are 12 students in the Video Production Class at PHCA, and they are learning some of the same lessons Morrison teaches at West Virginia University, albeit at a lower basic level.

“We’re teaching the student about storyboarding, shooting, audio production, teleprompting, interviewing, and being on camera,” Morrison explains. “We also cover strategic aspects of video production, such as how to develop a needs analysis, developing a creative brief, and writing a script.”

Students in the class are taking turns doing various tasks, such as learning how to incorporate the roles of executive producer, producer, graphic artist, writing, videography, audio technician, production assistant, on-camera talent, and interviewing.

“The students have responded very well to their class assignments. They are broken down into six teams of two each. Each team has a tripod and a camera, and we regularly practice video recording.”

Another student who’s really excited about what she is learning is Emma, also an eighth grader at PCHA.

“It’s a really informative course,” Emma says. “I was interested in this subject, and I think videography is a great skill to learn. My personal role thus far has been storyboards and working as location manager, but right now in the class we’re also learning about lighting and the rule of thirds in shooting video.”

Emma also praises Morrison. “He’s really knowledgeable, and he makes learning about videos both easy and fun.”

As a capstone project, the class is producing a marketing video for Parma Heights Christian Academy. The student-made video will be used to inform future students and their families about PCHA, and serve as a marketing tool for the Academy. The video is expected to debut around February 1, 2026.

For more details about Parma Heights Christian Academy, visit https://phcawarriors.com/ or email office@phcawarriors.com or call 440-845-8668.

(NOTE: Morrison and eyeoncleveland.com founder Kerezy were classmates at Mooney Middle School and Rhodes High School.)