Montgomery County’s back-to-school video, part 2

Good morning, DMV. It’s Wednesday, August 26.

Yesterday I wrote about Montgomery County Public Schools’ fun back-to-school video. I was curious about how it came to be, so I reached out to MCPS to learn more.

Recordings of the video and audio were done by two staffers from the 11-person MCPS multimedia services department: Bryan Babcock shot and edited the video, while Dan Farina recorded the audio.

“A lot of people think that a huge production crew produced this. People think it’s 10 to 15 people who did this, but it’s two people, in-house,” said Babcock, a video producer in the MCPS multimedia services department who spends the bulk of his time on digital and social content of events, milestones and board of education meetings.

MCPS superintendent Thomas W. Taylor — who oversees 211 schools with more than 155,000 students and 25,000 staff — presented the idea for the back-to-school video in late spring, according to MCPS spokesman Chris Cram.

“He provides the initial vision and lets the creative types come back with proposals — what songs, how would you rewrite the lyrics? This year was about coming back strong and excited and ready for the new school year,” Cram said.

Babcock started the planning process in June.

“I was in charge of the logistics of producing this video,” he said. “I started networking, emailing principals, music teachers, and was able to identify three schools: Neelsville Middle School, Blake High School and Seneca Valley High School.”

Babcock and Farina, the audio engineer, shot the video and recorded audio from mid-July to early August. Kids, parents and staff from Neelsville performed “One Day More” from “Les Misérables”; the marching band from Blake played “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis; and students from Seneca Valley did “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.” Superintendent Taylor raps in the video, which includes footage captured over the past few years from schools across the county.

“There’s no budget for props or makeup. We use what we have,” Cram said.

Babcock said about 50 to 75 staff, teachers and parents were involved.

“These parents, teachers, and students — they’re not actors. They are as real as it comes,” he said. “It was very challenging to get these students to perform at times. We had to hype it up, talk it out. They had to do multiple takes … It was a great learning experience for them, but I hope they had fun doing it.”

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Jean Gordon, a Bethesda resident who sent in this photo, is 92 years old … and I believe the oldest person to submit a photo to me. So I decided to give her a call, and she answered! I told her I was surprised she took my call because my octogenarian parents rarely pick up calls from numbers they don’t recognize.

“I don’t either,” she told me. “But your name came up.”

Yay — a tech win for today.

We only spoke for three minutes, as I didn’t want to take too much of her time. She shared a bit about herself. She has five children, a dozen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She has been living in her home since 1963.

“I love the flowers and the outdoors. I’m lucky enough to still be in my house and have the back yard with the trees and the flowers … thanks to the help of my children,” she told me.

After it rained one day last week, she came into her living room to find the bright orange sky. “I looked out and saw this firely sunset and couldn’t resist taking a picture,” she said.

Thanks, Jean, for chatting, reading my Daily Dose and taking the time to send your lovely pic.

Readers: Did you capture the SpaceX launch? (I missed it. Boo.) Will you stay up tomorrow night for the lunar eclipse? (I can’t wait.) Share your photos of life in the DMV here.

Before I sign off, I leave you with one of my favorite songs by Dolly Parton, this version performed with guitarist Chet Atkins …

🌤️