Norwood High School’s TV department is preparing to travel to Tampa Bay for the annual Student Television Network convention.
The Student Television Network convention (STN) is heralded internationally for being the largest gathering of young men and women interested in media. Thousands of students, even from European countries, gather to gain experience on how the media industry runs.
With only weeks to go, the thirteen upperclassmen attending have kicked it into overdrive, ensuring they are fully ready to compete when they finally make it to relaxing Tampa.
Senior Charlotte Martino, who attended STN last year, is feeling more prepared than ever.
“I also feel more confident about the competitions and better prepared for the possible challenges we might face when competing,” she said, using her experience from Long Beach to boost her confidence when hurdles get in her way.
The students have begun practicing as an entire team for Crazy 8’s, a competition that gives them eight hours to produce an eight-minute morning news show. They have also broken off into smaller groups to work on their broadcast projects of choice, which range from producing a movie trailer, giving commentary on current sports debates, producing a podcast, and writing a script for two anchors to read and perform. Along with practicing, they have been meeting in WIN blocks to smooth out the finer details of the trip.
The in-person team competition at STN entails very specific rules and guidelines the participants must follow exactly. Even bending the rules can lead to disqualification.
In addition, small groups of students are working on broadcast projects to submit for the national competition.
Senior Sam Gurney is “very eager to get back to the competition and am confident in our team to win this year. Last year was such a great learning experience and I’m ready to compete again,” he said.
Although they have taken home minimum hardware in previous years, the team heading down this year has a fire lit under them, prepared to submit their best work and fill the shelves in the Broadcast Studio.
