A Maple Grove School documentary was recently created by students under the guidance of

Leon Alligood spearheads the making of Maple Grove documentary

and students from his class at MTSU.

Alligood is an assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where he has taught journalism for four years.  Prior to becoming a professor, he was a reporter for 30 years, most of that time divided between the Nashville Banner and The Tennessean.

For both newspapers he visited Maple Grove and wrote stories about the school, first in 1989 and then in the early 2000s.

Because of the unique educational atmosphere provided at Maple Grove Mr. Alligood thought how great it would be to make a documentary on the school.  At the time he lacked the skills and time.  In his new position, he has both.

Prior to leaving The Tennessean in 2008, he  began producing videos for the newspaper’s website, telling stories in a multimedia format.  AT MTSU he teaches young journalists these skills.

In 2009 he was successful in writing grants for $10,000 to create a multimedia lab that he takes to public schools.  The lab includes video cameras, still cameras, audio recorders, computers, and editing software that are for the students’ use.

He taught fifth through eighth graders at Maple Grove how to shoot video, take still photos, and acquire sound, and basic multimedia skills.

Alligood and some of his university students also spent time at Maple Grove helping coordinate the work of Maple Grove students and to shoot video and photos that will complement their creativity.

The students were instructed to think big and have hopes the documentary will play at film festivals, air on public television, maybe even in theaters. Funds received from this project will be shared 50/50 with the school.