I am an Anchor here at WACS News, one of the five current anchors between our two teams of reporters. I first worked alongside Alexis Marx, then by myself, and now with Brooke Meyer and Peyton Zelasko.  Last year, I signed up to take Multimedia Production because I thoroughly enjoy this kind of work.  Plus, I am attending SUNY Fredonia next year with a degree in Communications: Video Production.  

Initially, I went into the class with the plan of just being a reporter, but Mr. Currin and Mr. Masci assigned me to be an anchor.  Nonetheless, I still had to produce a news story every week.  My first project was a highlight reel of Jim Kelly’s visit to the high school.  This was really my first time using a Mac computer and iMovie totally on my own, so the first couple of stories took a little longer to produce.  

Since I’m involved in the Theatre Department at school, I covered a lot of the progress f the Fall Play and Winter Musical at the high school because I knew what I was talking about and I would always be at rehearsal to get footage.  The first of these stories was a sit down interview with Mr. Masci about the new online ticketing system used for the Middle and High School performances.  Then, I interviewed both directors, Mr. Masci and Mrs. Farrell, about the play during rehearsals and after the final performance as well, and I later also did a wrap-up of the musical.  Meanwhile, I covered the mock flute audition of Alex Hamilton as he prepared for the real thing at Northwestern University.  Sticking with music and theatre, I presented some coverage of the annual NYSTEA conference in Callicoon, New York.  Although I didn’t go on the retreat myself, I talked to those who did and learned a lot of what happens during the conference.  

At the end of 2016, as the district was about to undergo some major administrative changes, I was tasked with covering the retirement of Mrs. Monacelli, Mr. Hutchinson, and his secretary Ms. Bush.  

Alden was hit was winter storm Stella, so I covered the effects of that and how the community reacted. Then, our class renovated it’s format to the new Breakfast Blend, and this is when I believe my work on WACS News became more professional.  We were encouraged to reach out to the community each week to bring attention to some local events.  I, specifically, was assigned to present the Local News each week when we began the Breakfast Blend.  I covered the re-naming of the rifle range in honor of Coach Paul Borkowski, who has been at Alden for nearly fifty years.  We made it our goal to bring a guest on the show each week, so I interviewed people such as Mayor Manicki and Mr. Stoltman about the new crosswalks in the village.  I also interviewed Mr. Lyons about his long career at Alden.  Mr. Stoltman was a recurring guest, and most recently, I covered the District’s huge step forward with their One-to-World initiative, in which each student will be receiving a Surface Pro.

I’m most proud of my interviews later in the year, and primarily with our breakdown of the Budget.  That episode in particular, as well as my recap of the musical, received the most praise from the community.  The Budget coverage was a big challenge because it was the first time we did actual, more-professional news.  However, that episode was our most productive all year.

In terms of editing actual footage, as I said, it was a learning process throughout the year.  I definitely have learned how to edit smoother videos, frame a shot better, and, since I’m an anchor, I have learned to conduct much more professional interviews.  My earlier interviews always would end very awkwardly.  I have also grown past writing and filming my story so that I was in the camera shot.  I created more professional videos where I simply do a voice over while b-roll is playing over the audio.

I would say, for students considering taking the class, they need to understand one major thing:  your stories—including the video and article—count as your grade.  It’s the same as writing a paper or doing a project for another class.  The class is really fun, but also very fast paced. We need to be able to be flexible with our schedules because the ones we’re interviewing are only available at certain times.  We have to be able to keep up with the news going on in Alden.  That was probably my biggest challenge: finding the time to keep up with my story.  If I could have devoted more time to this class, I would have produced higher quality stories. But of course, I had to balance my other classes with this. Hopefully, when I do start my actual career after college, I will produce better work because I won’t have other classes to spend time on well.

Overall, I definitely learned to create smoother, higher-quality, more professional stories and act more professional as an anchor as well.   This class helped me become a stronger leader while also having fun and trying new things at the same time.  There were countless, long-running jokes off-camera.  This class benefitted me greatly, and I would totally recommend it for anyone who wants a hands-on, engaging, fun-filled, and non-conventional classroom experience.