Erich Wagner/The Gazette Crossland High School students Antonio Morrell of Fort Washington and Faithful Byrd of Suitland, both 17, anchor the school's inaugural television broadcast Tuesday of the morning announcements.

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Erich Wagner/The Gazette Crossland High School students Antonio Morrell of Fort Washington and Faithful Byrd of Suitland, both 17, anchor the school's inaugural television broadcast Tuesday of the morning announcements.

Erich Wagner/The Gazette Crossland High School students Antonio Morrell of Fort Washington and Faithful Byrd of Suitland, both 17, anchor the school's inaugural television broadcast Tuesday of the morning announcements.

 

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Although Crossland High School 11th-grader Faithful Byrd has been reading the morning announcements for two years over the school’s intercom, she said she was both nervous and excited Tuesday morning.

The extra anticipation was because she was taking part in the inaugural television broadcast of the Temple Hills school’s daily announcements at its new television production studio.

“It was nerve-racking,” said Faithful, 17, of Suitland. “It was a new experience, so I was excited.”

The new studio is the brainchild of assistant principal Terence Taylor, who also teaches the associated broadcast media production course. Taylor, who in 2008 completed the construction of a similar facility at Central High School in Capitol Heights, said he had been lobbying for the studio since he joined Crossland High in 2009.

Much of the equipment for the studio was used or donated by various sources, said Taylor, who studied television and radio production at Hampton University in Virginia. He said students in Crossland’s electrical academy class constructed the studio’s walls and did all of its wiring, while art students painted the various graphics and backdrops on set.

Taylor said the new studio and course gives students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in both TV and audio production, but the process of creating a television program is interdisciplinary.

“You’ve got your writing and your journalism, not to mention using the broadcast medium to improve your speaking and enunciation,” Taylor said. “It also crosses over into different lessons and enables them to go out and do better in their regular classes. And with the more advanced stuff like engineering and audio engineering, students are applying math and logarithms, so it integrates and crosses into other areas.”

Students meet for class every day, where they learn about production techniques, such as camera angles, lighting and editing, as well as meeting once or twice a week after school to rehearse their segments, Taylor said.

Eleventh-grader Ikia Franks, 16, of District Heights said she is responsible for writing the announcement scripts. She said that even the compiling of announcements has become a lesson in journalism, as she has to go to the various teachers and student groups to report on the details of their potential listing.

“We’re constantly critiquing ourselves, which helps me pay more attention,” Ikia said. “I know how to put ‘street talk’ into words, and now that I pay more attention I know how to avoid that [in my work for other subjects].”

Barrington Nickens, 17, of Temple Hills, a 12th-grader who reported on Tuesday morning’s dreary weather conditions, said the class has caused him to consider a career in television production, and has motivated him to perform better in his other courses.

“In this class it’s a little harder than other classes,” Barrington said. “But I look forward to it, and I use my learning experiences here in my other classes to push me forward.”

Crossland High Principal Charles Thomas said the course is an excellent supplement to the school’s curriculum, which already includes Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and vocational course offerings.

“We strive in all of our classes to present a relativity to the real world,” Thomas said. “This is an outstanding example of how to do that.”

Faithful said she is considering majoring in broadcast media in college as a result of both her experience reading the announcements and participating as a television anchor.

“I could definitely see myself doing this,” she said. “My ultimate goal is to have my own talk show, maybe be the next Oprah Winfrey.”

ewagner@gazette.net