Lights, Camera, Action: Spotlighting MHSTV's new look
By:: Raynesong Obomsawin
In 1991, Ed Chamberlain, a former Mishawaka teacher started Mishawaka High School Television (MHSTV), a news broadcast that informs the school community of school related happenings. This year Matt Rendall is taking over MHSTV and breathing new life into the venture. The changes and expansion of the broadcasting platforms is offering practical, real world experience for students interested in media production.
This year students are running a youtube channel that features up to the minute videos of school board meetings, sporting events and the weekly MHSTV broadcasts. The class structure includes weekly staff meetings where the students pitch original story ideas to the Meg Sauer, School City of Mishawaka communications director and past news director of WSBT. The students are learning how to tell a good story, using words, video and sound. These experiences are beneficial for the students because they develop skills such as editing and production that can be used in a broadcast career. Parker Norris, a senior at Mishawaka High School (MHS), said, “ This class allows me to use my passion for filmmaking and media production in a way that no other class at the high school does.”
Norris added, “The relaxed environment, creative aspects of production, and and dynamic opportunities of the class” are reasons to add MHSTV to a student’s schedule. Norris has made several short films, taken media classes, and attended several filmmaking workshops before joining MHSTV. Norris decided to join MHSTV because he thought it would be a great experience to enrich his media-oriented background.
John Ross, assistant principal at MHS, said, “ This class is made for people who want to learn and are intrigued in media production.” This year has seen the production team bring live broadcasts of the football games via its Youtube channel. With the cold and rainy October this has been a welcome feature many fans truly appreciate. “The live broadcasts have served a great need for those fans who cannot support the team in person but live and breathe Cavemen sports,” said Christie Buchmann, MHS journalism teacher and fan. “We have older supporters with medical issues that make it difficult to travel to games and the live broadcast has really had a positive impact for this fan community,” Buchmann said. Adding access via youtube offers the largest active high school alumni association in the nation an even better way to stay in touch with and support the MHS Cavemen.