Digital Video Production students from Mount Saint Mary College enjoyed valuable, real-world experience this month by filming oral history interviews with six elderly Maryknoll Sisters at the congregation’s Center House in Ossining, N.Y.
The footage will be a centerpiece of a large-scale project celebrating the upcoming centennial of the Maryknoll Sisters’ mission in the Philippines, helping to preserve a crucial part of the organization’s rich heritage.
The four participating sisters, all over the age of 80, shared firsthand accounts of their service in the Philippines, covering a time span from 1964 to 2022. The students, under the direction of Merle Becker, instructor of Digital Media Production, were responsible for every facet of the production.
“The Maryknoll Sisters film shoot was a fantastic opportunity for my Digital Video Production I students to gain hands-on experience in a real-world client setting,” said Becker. “From writing interview questions and setting up equipment, to conducting the interviews and handling post-production, they were involved in every step of the process. I try to do at least one service-based video project each year, and this collaboration with the Maryknoll Sisters was one of my favorites.”
On a professional level, the project allowed students to apply the technical skills they learned in the classroom while practicing the Dominican Pillar of service. On a personal level, many students reported being profoundly moved by the sisters’ life stories.
“Having the Mount Saint Mary College students here to collaborate with our sisters on the Philippines mission centennial project made for an exciting and special day,” said Sr. Len Montiel, M.M., General Secretary of Maryknoll Sisters. “This intergenerational collaboration toward a shared purpose is vital, especially in today’s world beset with divisions and isolation.”
The Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic were founded in 1912 as the first congregation of Catholic sisters in the United States dedicated to overseas mission. Today, approximately 245 sisters serve in 19 places around the world, including at the Maryknoll Center House in Ossining.