Former Riverview student ‘a talent,’ producers say
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
When Wilmot Union High School freshman Alexis Peterson made her hosting debut on WisconsinEye, the student nailed each take with professionalism, according to WisconsinEye Program Coordinator Claudia Looze.
WisconsinEye, a nonprofit television broadcast service launched in 2007, is modeled after C-SPAN and offers a nonpartisan look at unedited coverage of public policy debate and actions of elected officials, according to its Facebook page.
The organization first discovered Peterson when she delivered a Project Citizen presentation in Madison as a seventh-grader at Riverview School.
According to Looze, the presentation and a question presented by WisconsinEye’s Director of Program Production John Schroeder impressed the organization, which invited her to shoot two educational videos aimed younger children.
“After the presentations, John had some of the students answer the question, ‘What does democracy mean to you?’” said Looze. “And her answer was amazing. We included her and other students in a promo for WisconsinEye.”
The promos were for 4K and elementary school children.
The inclusion thrilled Peterson’s mother, Jeanette, who said her daughter takes three honors courses, along with an Advanced Placement college course and a Project Lead the Way honors course at Wilmot.
“I was so excited for this new opportunity to participate in WisconsinEye’s project,” said Jeanette, adding Looze and Production Director Anthony Wood were easy to collaborate with.
“They made the filming process less scary and intimidating and quite fun.”
To make Alexis Peterson more comfortable, Jeanette brought Alexis’ aunt, Alisha Dean, and Grandmother Jean Dowell for support.
“Alisha works in downtown Madison, so she was very helpful in getting us to a parking garage near WisconsinEye’s studio,” Jeanette said.
Meanwhile, Alexis cruised through production with ease, showcasing her natural poise in front of the camera, Looze said.
“She was to easy to work with and was engaged in the whole process. I would love to work with her again,” said Looze. “Alexis is natural. She usually got everything on one take, but we would a couple extras, just in case.”
But, in the extra takes, Alexis “nailed it every time…such a pro!” Looze added.
Alexis’ level of professionalism, Looze said, gives her plenty of promise in the future.
“I hope she signs up with talent agencies because I think she could earn some cash doing commercials,” said Looze.
While Alexis conveys talent in front of the camera, the classroom where she is a Straight-A student, the Wilmot Union High School freshman has also notched athletic awards in gymnastics.
Alexis competes as a Level 8 USA Gymnast at Gymnastics Zone in Antioch, Ill., where she won the Level 6 state competition last April.
For more information on WisconsinEye, visit its website at www.wiseye.org/
To find out what she presented, view the video below (Courtesy of https://vimeo.com/user24834988/videos):