BA Today - Fall 2017

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By Mary Helene Hal

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nyone that has stepped foot in the backstage area of the Pilot Center in the last three months has probably experienced a feeling of awe after seeing all the new equipment erected.

Every inch of the room is covered in lights, cameras, interviewing stations, green screens, microphones, and more. It feels as if you have entered a real life newsroom for a TV station.

And in a way, you definitely have.

This room is where you will find the home of Bayside Academy’s recently organized video production classroom, as well as the home of Admiral TV. The course is taught by Bill Rowan, Catt Sirten, and Douglas Robertson.

Rowan and Sirten have come from their respective lines of work to teach Bayside students all about video production for news media, including (but not limited to) using video editing software, operating film equipment, conducting interviews, working as a team, and bringing it all together to form one amazing final product.

After hiring and training college graduates for work, he realized that many students lacked critical thinking and management skills.

The new instructors have a plethora of career experiences under their belts. Rowan has worked for 40 years in marketing and sales management.

“The team building and critical thinking skills required in most modern business environments, and by most professions, are typically not integrated into the college curriculum.”

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He recognized that the key to this type of understanding is to be fully immersed in a studio learning environment. He then decided to develop a curriculum at Spring HIll College, where there is now a Badger TV studio and control room.

The process takes a balance of creativity, organization, and technical ability – and when you get to see your finished product and share it with others, it’s a pretty fulfilling experience.

Mr. Douglas Robertson

Catt Sirten, who is known by many as the personality of Radio Avalon on 92 ZEW, has been working in radio for over 40 years. In about the last 25 years while working on the Gulf Coast, he has won “Best Radio Personality” eight times.

Sirten says that music led him to working in radio: “I’ve always been in love with music... all kinds of music. And fortunately I was able to work with folks that showed me methods of fusing the structure of radio with artistic expression.”

Bayside’s very own Mr. Douglas Robertson has also joined the teaching staff for the video production course. Robertson said that the reason he was interested in instructing the course was that he gets to see students think outside of the box and exercise critical thinking. “I’ve been making a lot of videos for my classes and for school events over the past couple of years...The process takes a balance of creativity, organization, and technical ability – and when you get to see your finished product and share it with others, it’s a pretty fulfilling experience.”

Rowan and Sirten were first brought to Bayside during the Understanding the Southern Mystique class’s “High Tide: Southern Music Showcase.” They filmed the performance for Live From Avalon, which was broadcasted on Alabama Public Television in October.

Some students acted as interns during the production process, which led to a conversation about the creation of a media center on campus.

So far, students in this course have learned about the components of making a television production, such as writing stories, interviewing, scripting, operating the equipment, and learning the fundamentals of programs such as Adobe Premiere and Audition. Robertson noted, “I’m learning just as much as the students – which is fun.”

The instructors of Bayside’s video production course have expressed high hopes for the future of the Admiral TV program. Rowan notes that he would like “to develop a production crew that can present multi-disciplinary television programming and event coverage of the highest quality.” Sirten adds that he wants this program to give students a “head start in their collegiate career,” as well as “highlight Bayside’s innovative educational methods.”

Admiral TV will continue to be shown during regular Tuesday assemblies.

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Love After Harvey

By Ann Marie Fedro '21, Reporter It seems ironic that after something so terrible as a natural disaster, the very best in people can be brought into the light. Hurricane Harvey hit the United States on August 25th, and Hurricane Irma hitting on August 30th.

Since then, the American people have worked together more closely than they have in quite awhile.

After the presidential election of 2016, politics seemed to matter more than anything else. However, we are now realizing that the American Spirit is still alive in the United States. It has just been masked by all of the political dispute.

According to CNN, Harvey, a category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 mph, left 30,000 people in need of temporary shelter. Harvey also broke the record for the most rain ever from one storm, leaving 51 inches of rain throughout Texas and Louisiana.

Not only did Harvey leave rain behind, but it also left $75 billion dollars worth of estimated losses. Hundreds of charities and celebrities did everything in their power to help those caught up in the hurricane.

For instance, the American Red Cross set up 34 shelters, activated over 190 Emergency Response Vehicles to deliver meals and relief supplies, and helped shelter 37,000 families in the areas affected by Harvey.

Kevin Hart, a well known comedian, not only donated $25,000 dollars to disaster relief, but he also started the “Harvey Challenge� where he called among his fellow celebrities to donate.

Many responded to the challenge and also donated $25,000. The list includes, Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah

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CNN

Winfrey, Lady Gaga, Drake, DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and many more. One of the largest individual donations was from Sandra Bullock who donated a total of $1 Million Dollars. She encouraged people to put all political leanings aside and come together to help those in need.

Irma, the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded outside of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, stretched 650 miles east to west.

Winds of up to 185 mph sustained for more than 24 hours, a an all-time record length of time for hurricanes in the Atlantic.

The storm sparked evacuation orders for 5.6 million citizens before making two landfalls, leaving Florida with anywhere from $50 billion to $100 billion dollars in estimated losses.

The American Red Cross set up 29 emergency shelters in Florida, and more than 160 emergency response vehicles delivered meals and supplies across areas of Florida, Georgia, and even South Carolina.

After something so terrible like a hurricane it is incredible to watch as millions of people with different political, religious, and ethnic views come together to help those in need. These two natural disasters came at a very tense time in the United States, filled with political and social turmoil.

However, after Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, millions of people all over the United States (and beyond) overcame their differences and worked together to do all that they could for those who lost everything.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle

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