Kristen Graham | News they can use for skills

Jerry Sullivan slipped a white visor over his ears and sat down nervously at the red, rectangular table.

Standing in front of him, Randi Rentz smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. Jerry adjusted the visor, sat up a little straighter, folded his hands, and went into serious-journalist mode. A light went on, and the camera began recording.

"Pluto just got the boot from the planet club," Jerry read, his voice slow and loud. "That brings the number of planets in our solar system to eight instead of nine."

Jerry, a fourth grader at Worrall Elementary School in Broomall, smiled big when he finished. He is serious about practicing for Action 7, a newscast that students in Rentz's Asperger's support class spend all year putting together.

Rentz's students - all with Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum characterized by deficiencies in social and communications skills - learn to work video equipment, try different newsroom jobs, research and write stories, and design backdrops and props to help develop their language, social and life skills.

Or, as Jerry's classmate John Tobin put it, "Action 7 helps me work on speech sounds, and eye contact, and being a good listener. I practice staying on topic and sitting up straight."

Rentz dreamed up the newscast seven years ago when she worked with students having trouble learning certain concepts. When she became the Asperger's support teacher at Worrall, Rentz thought Action 7 was a perfect fit - a real-world way for kids to practice much-needed skills.

"I find these children need to understand the subtleties of communication so they can effectively develop relationships with others," she said. "For anyone living with Asperger's syndrome, the simplest interaction with anyone can instill anxiety and discomfort."

Soon after school begins, her students - this year, six in kindergarten through fifth grade - spend part of their several-times weekly sessions working with Rentz and speech therapist Kristen Dercole to put the newscast together. They practice through the winter, tape the final product in the spring, and premier it to the whole school with a grand gala, complete with red carpet, reserved seating for the stars, and cheering crowd.

On a recent weekday, Jerry and John, a second grader, gathered with first grader Augie Pantellas in Rentz's classroom, where a makeshift set is put together using borrowed and donated materials. The boys brushed up using last year's scripts.

It was John's turn at the anchor's desk. He started confidently, then took a deep breath and stopped. He and Dercole had just talked about inflection, and his wasn't quite right.

"I'll start over," John said. "Good morning. My name is John Tobin. I'm reporting on the weather in Broomall, Pennsylvania, today. The high temperature for today will be 84."

Rentz nodded.

"The next time I ask you to do it, I'm going to ask you to lower your engine. Do you know what that means?" she asked.

John nodded seriously.

"Slow down," he said.

The Action 7 students watch real newscasts to get clues about nonverbal body language - an anchor's smile, or her intense look at the camera. They work on giving one another constructive criticism, balancing what's OK to say to a friend with making the newscast better.

Rentz works with the students on appropriate personal space, staying on task and topic, transitions, on hidden social roles, things those with Asperger's find difficult to grasp.

"We talk about what's OK to say and when to say it," Rentz said. "We talk about reciprocal conversation posture."

Watching the students' progress through the year is a joy, Dercole and Rentz said. By the time of the newscast's premier, the students feel comfortable walking up on stage and introducing their work to the rest of the school.

"For them to see themselves on camera is such a great experience," Dercole said. "I think it really helps with their self-confidence, and it makes them more comfortable with public speaking and social settings, which is usually really tough for them."

For days after the showing, the members of the Action 7 team are Worrall celebrities, receiving high-fives and smiles from classmates.

"People really complimented me," Jerry said of last year's showing. "It made me feel really happy."

In one corner, Jerry showed John a trick with the video camera. In another, Dercole helped Augie with cue cards. Rentz stood off to the side, taking it all in.

"It's amazing seeing them coming into their own," Rentz said.