Campo Elementary third-grader Adam Cartwright poses for for Video Amber shoot at the school last week. His sister Emily, a fifth-grader, also took part in the program.

     The Video Amber Foundation seeks to use technology to its advantage, to help in its search for missing children. Video Amber works with Parent Teacher Organizations throughout the country to take free 15-second digital videos of every school child in the United States. The videos are then turned over to local law enforcement to assist them in finding those children, should they go missing.
     Campo Elementary PTO members have been working with Video Amber, planning, coordinating and eventually taking videos of students. About 40 percent of the K-6 students at Campo Elementary participated in the video program.
     “We’ve worked really hard on this for several months,” said PTO mom Paige McAllister at the school last Thursday morning.
     Paige was celebrating her birthday; a sick little boy on her hip and a very well behaved daughter watching videos in the corner, working with PTO Treasurer Wendy Henderson, PTO President Julie Frost and Video Amber coordinator Diana Snipe to get the last few students videotaped.
     On Friday morning all of the Campo Elementary tapes were given directly to local Sheriff’s deputies. The plan is that the videos will be updated annually so that local law enforcement agencies will always have a current video available in the event a child is reported missing.
     According to a report from the U.S. Attorney General, nearly 75 percent of children who are kidnapped and later found murdered are killed within the first three hours after being taken. With the digital video technology officials will be able to quickly distribute images of a missing child to law enforcement and media.
     Video Amber is a non-profit organization that works with parent teacher groups and schools to arrange for free videotaping of all children in their classes. The program is supported entirely by donations from parents and local businesses.
     Video Amber area coordinators work with local PTO members through the fundraising process, and the organization of videotaping sessions. Parental permission notices are sent home with every child at the school. The local PTO gets to keep 40 percent of the funds raised through the program, with the rest going to Video Amber.
     A short video is taken of the student standing in front of a screen showing the child’s height, a couple turns for a profile, a few steps forward, and a big smile — that’s all it takes. Parents may also purchase a copy of the video to have for their own records and a CD with information on what to do if their child is missing.
    “This is really important — nowadays especially,” Frost said. “Kids are just getting hit from every side and every angle, they’ve got so much going on and you just never know who they might be talking to.”
     Although this was only the first year for the Video Amber program at Campo Hills, participation was high and everything went off with only a few glitches. PTO members will stay in contact with Video Amber coordinators to plan for next year’s taping.
     For more information about the program check online at www.videoamber.com. Check with you local parent teacher group, school site committee, or school district board to see if your school is taking part in this child recovery program.



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