Our schools’ Broadcast Journalism class has provided an inclusive and entertaining news show, The Mane Event.
They have a wide variety of interests shown to entertain the people of San Juan Hills, from Sport Report to The Shane Show.
“We do segments on the many aspects around the campus, we cover athletics, VAPA performances, school events and functions. Overall, everything that has to do with San Juan Hills,” said Shane Joseph Roberts (12).
Roberts created The Shane Show and is heavily involved in The Mane Event. He has been involved all four years of high school, and has helped create a legacy for broadcast journalism.
Broadcast Journalism is also a college and career advantage class being beneficial for the students’ futures.
“So you got to learn by doing it, you don’t just sit around and read a textbook all day long,” said Roberts.
“I joined The Mane Event because I was interested in doing film, for fun and getting used to a camera. I made a lot of friends in that class so it’s fun being around them,” said Will Fleming (12).
Fleming keeps up with visual and performing arts, calling it “VAPA Check”. He ensures that the segment has B-Roll and what topics get covered by anchors. Fleming also manages the anchors, being called a ‘talent coach’ by some of his classmates.
“Whenever you see someone in front of the camera, I’m teaching them how to be in front of the camera and telling them if they made a mistake and how to correct it,” said Fleming.
This class requires roles dedicated to segments that are seen on the Mane Event. There’s independence to it in the way that students without main roles can brainstorm their own ideas and interests.
“There’s so much freedom in terms of what you’re able to do. That comes with knowledge of training and making quality resources,” said Roberts.
“It starts with our storyboards and getting the green light from our teacher. From there every student is working on a project and once that’s finished it will air,” said Peyton Graham (12).
Graham runs athletics, doing Sport Report. She writes scripts and films, often being an anchor but alternates with others in the class. As well as editing a lot, she even spends time during lunch or 6th period to finish before the deadline.
“We write our scripts on Tuesday and then that Thursday we film everything first. The rest of the period is spent on editing, like finding videos of sport teams or putting in graphics, music, and everything,” said Graham.
Last year she started in video production and joined Broadcast Journalism for her passion.
“I love the aspect of making videos and telling stories, so I was trying to further my education because I want to go into film,” said Graham.
With Mane Event being such a landmark for our school, deadlines are extremely tight and important to meet. So when the class has issues, communication is key.
“Normally we talk through the issues that we’re going through and have meetings. We used to have a meeting every Monday to talk about our goals and how we’ll accomplish them,” said Fleming.
“When I first started editing for sports report, it wasn’t the right clip or I put the wrong graphic and realized it until the next day it was airing. I just realized I have to be more careful about that next time,” said Graham.
They discuss the faults and find solutions and grow from mistakes. Which is why the procedure to make Mane Event follows storyboards, lists of interview questions, and of course approval from Jason Zuidema.
Zuidema is the teaching advisor of video production, which leads many students to take his other class, broadcast journalism, where Mane Event occurs. He is considered a mentor by his students for giving them creative freedom and approving what is shown on our school’s new show.
Mane Event is considered a new show that opens the world to our campus.
“It is kind of a practice run for students to start being aware of what’s being posted on the media and everything so they know what’s going on,” said Graham.
“We’re trying to create something that’s worthy of our viewers’ time. We respect that mentality and it’s something we honor,” said Roberts.
Thanks to The Mane Event and what Broadcast Journalism creates, our school is prepping ourselves for the reality of adulthood through this creative outlet made by students.
