Without a doubt, Graded has hosted some events as riveting as any school worldwide has to offer. Who can forget the thrilling, hair-clenching and utterly intense Varsity Basketball Finals? The community in its entirety anxiously biting away at their nails, powerless against the agony of emotion. When it comes to entertainment, Graded does it right.

But what if I can’t make it past São Paulo’s everyday traffic jams to watch the soccer game? What if I have to attend a boxing championship during the Jazz Band performance? Or what if I even have to film my own project during the whole film festival? Three students had a single vision in response to such questions, and they called it GradedLive. What began as a program that let students engage in these authentic experiences from anywhere at anytime, now incorporates the best in communication technologies, ranging from Photoshop to drones, and with the additional pleasure of witty, comedic and well-prepared hosts and commentators.

Of course, at the beginning of GradedLive, there were a few technical struggles, but now the program is up and running, dribbling past its hurdles with finesse. Recently, the immersive and engaging project has grown in popularity, reaching 203 live viewers during the Boys Basketball finals, as well as 252 during the Girls Soccer final match. This has allowed for athletes and musicians to share their achievements with friends and family more easily.

Pedro Salles Leite, grade 11, founded the project. “Talking about sport events this semester,” he commented, “I am truly proud of the results GradedLive has achieved. To see the growth since when this activity started, in my freshman year, is very rewarding. GradedLive is constantly innovating and expanding. Our team went from three to 16 members, and from 30 viewers in our initial broadcast, to our current average of 200+ viewers. Looking into the future there are many things we will be bringing to our audience. A phone application will be available in a couple of days, and we are also building a camera rig, which will be ready for use in a few months. I think with all our broadcasts, especially the ones we did this semester, GradedLive is showing a future of possibilities and constantly breaking boundaries. I’m very thankful to all of those who made this possible, from our team, to administration, to viewers. I’m extremely eager to continue leading GradedLive in setting new standards for broadcasting.”

For the rest of the interview with Pedro please visit this link. For some more reactions from the community, please see below.

“To me, GradedLive has enabled not only students, but parents, teachers and alumni to be a part of school activities through the emerging technology of the 21st century.” —Isabelle Chang, Sports Manager

“I mean, it’s not professional or anything. But they get the job done. The commentators are pretty good, they know some sophisticated adjectives, and they know when and for how long to take a break. Plus, no awkward moments.” —Alex Daffara

“Graded Live is an amazing idea that makes everything we always hate to miss, readily available at any moment.” —Luca Civita

“I believe that GradedLive is a brilliant idea. Sometimes, it’s rather frustrating when we aren’t able to attend school events, and GradedLive has provided an effective medium through which we can still watch said events. I also think that GradedLive has been constantly improving its services.” —Luiz de Campos