Summer break is all about “lights, camera, action” for nearly 20 junior high students enrolled in Placerita Junior High School’s Kid Flix Video Production summer camp.

This group of seventh and eighth graders from the Placerita and Rio Norte middle schools are learning all about television production this week while producing their very own academic game show, “Placerita Challenge”, at the SCVTV Media Center in Newhall.

It’s part of a summer camp started 11 years ago by Placerita teacher Paul Kass.

The Kid Flix Video Production Camp is a two-week workshop designed to familiarize students with camera equipment and editing software – and have some fun while school is out of session.

“During the first week, students learn the basics,” Kass said. “We teach them how to use a camera and how to write a news story. They also learn computer programs like iMovie and Garage Band to edit their video and compose their own music, too.”

Week 1 of the summer camp is held at Placerita Junior High School.

Week 2 is more advanced and is hosted at the SCVTV Media Center. Each day, students are split into three small groups, two of which spend the morning with camp counselors learning advanced video editing skills with Final Cut Pro video editing software.

The third group receives professional studio production training in camera operations, audio, graphics, directing and technical directing. This group performs all of the behind-the-scenes work for that day’s episode of “Placerita Challenge,” while the other two groups compete as contestants.

“It’s great to see the students working together as a team to produce an entire episode each day,” said SCVTV Production Manager Megan Perez. “The hands-on experience they’re getting at a professional television studio is such a great opportunity for them to explore the types of jobs that will be available to them when they grow up. Plus it’s really cool for them to spend the morning making a TV show and then go home and watch that show on TV with their families.”

“Placerita Challenge” is televised on SCVTV at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. this week (Time Warner Cable channel 20, TWC digital channel 29.3, AT&T U-verse channel 99, and online at SCVTV.com).

The Kid Flix Video Production Camp is one of two tech-education summer camps hosted by Kass and nine camp counselors, all of whom are his former students.

Each afternoon, the crew changes gears from from TV production to LEGO Robotics. Kids ages 9-14 are spending their summer building NXT robots and programing them using sensors.

They will have the opportunity to attend the RoboTech Camp at Legoland California and participate in a culminating competition in July.