Three, two, one: action. At Edmond Memorial High School, numerous electives are available. One in particular is the broadcasting program, which consists of Intro to Broadcasting, Broadcasting and Sports Broadcasting.
The broadcasting program has recently developed its own news reporting channel called The Bark. This channel broadcasts live every Friday to provide weekly updates on events at EMHS, as well as a humorous video for students to enjoy. Broadcasting has been working on these videos for a while as a way to promote the program, but they have only been set into motion within the past school year.
Corey Ayers is the adviser of the broadcasting classes at EMHS. Ayers has described how rewarding it is to witness his students’ work come to fruition.
“The thing I enjoy the most is probably once the kids pull off a successful program,” Ayers said. “The sense of accomplishment, like the team building, once all the work is over. We did something. We put out a product, and it was a team effort, and it was successful.”
All lives begin with a brainstorming session, where the staff shares potential segment ideas. The ideas deemed achievable are then assigned to students who work together to bring them to life. Malachi Mack, a producer in Broadcasting, takes on an important role to lead his peers to success.
“I’m one of the main producers in our class, so at the start, I led one of the groups we had and took charge of certain segments we’d be working on,” Mack said. “We normally just pick a segment from our idea list that we’d like to work on, get a group together, divide the work and conquer.”
To successfully collaborate at the beginning of the year, the staff learned how to divide work evenly, and individual students took on leadership positions to provide structure. Lucy Sipes, the student responsible for handling the teleprompter during live broadcasts, witnesses the teamwork and leadership present in the classroom.
“I would say teamwork-wise, there are definitely people who have had more experience take control of larger segments, which works for the most part,” Sipes said. “Now that we’ve been a team for over half of the semester, we’re beginning to mesh.”
Ayer’s goal is to continue building on the strengths of his program and find new faces who want to join. One way he will continue to do so is through his Intro to Broadcasting course.
“I think in the future I’d like to make the pipeline stronger,” Ayers said. “[I want to] get kids interested in Intro and then have them filter off to the other two classes.”
The broadcasting program is a way for students to discover what kind of videography they are interested in as a possible career after high school. Not only are there three types of broadcasting classes, but in each class, students rotate through several roles, such as hosting segments, allowing students the opportunity to figure out what interests them the most.
“Since freshman year, I had kind of been leaning toward wanting to major or have a career in the film industry, whether it be on or behind the screen,” Sipes said. “ Since I’ve joined the broadcasting team, my love and passion for live TV and comedy have only grown. I’m able to discover specific areas of film that I prefer over others, and the community is extremely welcoming.”
As the year continues, so will the live Friday segments. Ayer’s goal is to continue improving the class’s execution of each live. The upcoming installment of The Bark will be live on Oct. 31, and teachers can tune in during advisory for the new, spooky episode.
Contact Lauren Skinner and Erin Hamm at [email protected]
