Hi, I’m Kayla Derenda I enrolled into WACS for the 2016-17 school year. You may have seen me before as a sports anchor for WACS News and also in the new broadcasts of the Breakfast Blend.  I plan on returning to WACS News to continue my role as a sports anchor with my partner in crime, Tommy Bednarski. I enrolled into WACS News because of all the funny videos that were being produced last year with the old WACS News team. Some of my favorites from last year were “WACS News Snow Promo”, “In The Hall: How Big is a Turkey”, “Bus Thoughts”, and “Awkward Situations”. I would advise you to check them out if you’re ever feeling down in the dumps.

I’ve completed many sports related projects this year considering I was a sports anchor. Some were bad, some were good, and others just needed some work on. My work from the start of the year to the end has immense improvement. At the beginning of the year I literally didn’t know how to do anything in iMovie. It was a scary and complicated process especially when things were due. I needed help 24/7 but I eventually learned how to do things on my own. Now I can film and edit all on my own.  Some projects I did were Player Spotlights, and previews/recaps for different sports. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what were my best and worst projects. I guess I would choose my recent story on Maggie Arnold as one of the best. I think as my first time interviewing someone on an award that they received I didn’t do too bad. My worst would be when I didn’t even do a video. An example would be my story about the varsity girls’ soccer team taking part in breast cancer awareness month. Also being an anchor for a TV show was very difficult for me as well. It was my first time ever speaking in front of a camera where hundreds of people would watch me later on. That’s a lot of pressure on someone, and I am not very good at public speaking. The first couple times were very rough but as soon as you get in the groove it becomes less scary and easier to speak properly. I can defiantly say that this was my most improvement as an anchor and a person.

I have perfect advice for kids who want to take this class. This class can be your friend or your worst enemy. In the beginning it was fun and exciting, not saying it isn’t now but you catch my drift. As you get more into the process of being a cast member you have more responsibility, not saying having responsibility isn’t fun either but you catch my drift. I would advise kids that want to take a “slack off class” this isn’t the one for you. This class has made me hate procrastination. It’s a lot different on the inside then peering at it from the outside. It’s a generally hard class, but enjoyable because it gives you a break from reading packets and doing math problems like in other classes. In order to be successful you have to do a lot of outside work. You also have to be on time when turning in your projects because it is a newscast and not just some regular old U.S History class. It’s been difficult for me at times but in the long run I think it’s helped be become more diligent in my work. It also has helped with my professionalism. While being a part of a newscast there are times where you have to interview important people.  To get ahold of them you have to contact them via email. In order for you not to look like an idiot you have to learn how to properly address people and ask them to be interviewed.  Of course there was many solutions that I could’ve done to fix my mistakes and laziness with my projects. First, the day a new news cycle begins to start planning out what you’re going to do for your video and how organize it. That was a big issue for me because then I would always be behind.

My video taking skills improved greatly through the year. I know how to use the rule of thirds, how to properly adjust the lighting and how to focus the lens. I also would say that my editing skills are very good as well. I know how to cut clips and switch them around to coordinate them in a video correctly. I can honestly say that this was the first class in my life where I really did learn new things and where I paid attention and wanted to learn. It’s a just different class. You don’t learn professionalism in math class. You don’t learn how to interview people in history class.  You don’t learn video editing in English. I would honestly advise underclassmen to take this class, even though it’s a lot of work.

WACS News serves the school and the community. In fact, it serves other school districts too. The community watches our episodes because they want to know what’s happening at the high school. Especially during football season, many people in our community like to come out and support our football team and they look to our news network to post the games and times. Other districts watch our episodes because we are very high tech in the high school world of broadcasting. Many school districts have commented on your broadcasting and videos saying how impressed they are with us and our ideas.

Through the year many of my favorite memories were because of WACS News. One of my favorites was being the mascot for the homecoming game here at the high school. It was a pretty  awesome impulse decision on my part, and I guess I would say I’d do it again. Another one of my favorite memories was when I did the “Never Miss A Basket” video with my  co-anchor, Tom. It was a blast. Next year I plan on doing something like that again. And as always I loved anchoring, it was super fun doing silly things and being the face of sports with Tom.