Wildfiles - Television - News - Press

Two local women are hoping their work will inspire kids to get off the couch and go explore the great outdoors.

Spruce Grove residents Cindy Mitchell and Christine Weidlich are part of the Reel Girls Media team, an Edmonton-based production company that has recently produced a 13-episode television series on science and nature.

Spruce Grove residents Cindy Mitchell,
above left, and Christine Weilich, above
right, are part of the Reel Girls Media
team that has produced Wildfiles.TV.
The show can be watched Wednesdays at
11 am on Access - The Education Station.

Mitchell says the goal of the series, called Wildfiles.TV, is to motivate kids to get outside, explore their surroundings, and develop an interest in the environment.

“There are lots of kids, my son included, who love to sit in front of the TV, and getting them out into the backyard, and just getting them to have an interest in nature, is important,” said Mitchell, who is the project co-ordinator for the show’s companion Web site, www.wildfiles.tv. “Helping them get over their fears and helping them be smart about things is a good idea.”

The show’s first episode, Feather of Hope, aired March 10 on Access – The Education Station at 11 a.m. It followed the capture and rehabilitation of an injured Peregrine falcon.

The format of each episode is similar, explained Weidlich, who is a recent graduate from Grant MacEwan College’s digital arts and media program. The episodes begin with a question or a problem from a young nature enthusiast.

In Feather of Hope, a young girl named Terri (played by actor Frances Dewart) finds the injured falcon. Unsure of what to do, she put in an emergency call to Wildfiles.TV hosts Chris Fisher and Ava Karvonen, who is also the owner of Reel Girls Media.

Fisher and Terri then take the sick bird to falcon expert Dr. Gordon Court to be examined. A blood test shows the falcon has been exposed to the West Nile virus.

The next stop is going to falconer Alastair Franke for rehabilitation and eventually the bird’s release back to the wild.

“At the end of each episode, the original problem or question the kids have is solved or answered,” said Weidlich, a production assistant who contributes to the layout and design of the Web site’s online magazine, or e-Zine.

Subsequent episodes, which air Wednesdays at 11 a.m., will focus on rabbits, frogs, and wolves, and the upcoming April 14 episode deals with bears.

“It’s teaching kids, and even adults, about bear safety,” said Mitchell of the April 14 episode: “It’s really good to make kids more aware and less fearful in a case like that.”

Following each episode, viewers are encouraged to visit the Web site and access the Wildfiles.TV clubhouse, which includes wild yoga, science experiments, games, wild words, and a place for kids to submit their original artwork and poetry to be posted on the site.

“The site provides a lot of information that the show might not touch on,” said Weidlich, adding kids are welcome to submit articles for the e-Zine. “It’s informative and still fun at the same time.”

“If you come away from the show with a question, you can go to the Web site and send in a question for an expert and we’ll get it answered for you,” added Mitchell, who also helped with the graphics and special effects on the television series.

Each episode can also be watched online at www.sciq.ca.

Working on the show and Web site has been informative for both Mitchell and Weidlich.

“I’ve been learning a lot about the animals that we’ve been working with and it’s been a lot of fun,” Weidlich said. “It’s very cool work,” added Mitchell. “What’s wrong with learning new things, right?”