Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia Journalism class interviews alum, receives updates on Ebola project
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Journalism class interviews alum, receives updates on Ebola project

October 9, 2014 | 3473 views

Mrs. Forgette’s journalism class recently spoke to Darlington alum Rostam Zafari ('14) from a webcam in his dormitory at Emory University, where they interviewed the pre-med student and received firsthand updates on his new project REDS (Rapid Ebola Detection Strips).


The Skype interview falls on the heels of a similar opportunity with U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, when Darlington students got to ask prepared questions and formulate additional queries on the fly.


“Opportunities like these provide our students with the chance to practice their interviewing and reporting skills in a small group,” said Mrs. Forgette. “The fact that we were able to record it will also allow us to critique our questions and see what we missed.”


Zafari and classmate Brian Goldstone recently made headlines with a project aimed to detect and hopefully combat the Ebola virus.


“Find your angle, and tell the story that hasn’t been told,” encouraged Mrs. Forgette. “What about this story hasn’t been captured yet by mass media?”


While the interviewing assignment was educational in nature, Zafari’s words and work added an inspirational layer as well. Zafari credits his drive to find answers and question the status quo to his time at Darlington.


“We have the opportunity to capitalize off of our previous mistakes,” Zafari said during the Skype session. “You have to be creative and look where others haven’t looked. You have to know what’s been done and what hasn’t been done.”


Students were also reminded about the importance of timeliness in the news world, and how a 20-minute chat with a subject can potentially take over a week to plan. Zafari’s “celebrity” continues to grow in the wake of Ebola’s rise, and is screening calls from state and national media while also juggling college.


What began as a half-hearted challenge from an Emory professor blossomed into an opportunity to help those suffering not only in West Africa, but now much closer to home. Zafari and Goldstone developed the concept for REDS, a cheaper, portable and more user-friendly way to detect Ebola than what is currently used.


Following a patent process already in the works, Zafari and Goldstone plan to release the new technology to the market by early 2015, and send overseas soon thereafter.

To see the video appeal for the crowd-funding efforts of REDS, click here.