February 15, 2017
Tuning in success Ritenour High School receives national recognition for TV and radio stations By Nicholas Elmes In March, six Ritenour High School students will be traveling to New York to find out if they have won a variety of national awards for their work with the school’s TV and radio stations, KRHS-90.1 FM and KRHS TV. Even if they do not take any of the top awards, being asked to attend the 2017 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) Trophy Awards program as finalists in the competition is a high honor, especially since KRHS TV is the only high school station in the country to have achieved consideration for Submitted photo Best TV Station Manager, Best Ritenour High School student Gabi Anderson sits in the KRHS Radio studio. Anderson is a finalist for several 2017 Intercollegiate Broadcasting Television Creative Services Di- System Trophy Awards. rector, Best TV Station Faculty Adviser (Jane Bannester), Best (TV) Sports She said that the new studio came to the go out and work with local business and put Program and Best Sports Play-By-Play school just as the Ferguson was hitting the together videos productions for them.” She said her students’ work had been feaBroadcast. national news and her students jumped “We are very proud of our broadcast stu- right in and stepped up to tackle some dif- tured on the local PBS station and on the public radio podcast “We Live Here.” dents,” said Bannester, radio, and TV broad- ficult issues. This will be the second year that a large cast teacher and advisor. “Watching them “It was a perfect storm of opportunities,” set goals for high achievement at the begin- she said. “We did a lot of programming group of students has traveled to New York ning of the year, and then going beyond that about social justice and it really sparked the for the IBS Trophy Awards and the third mark, has been a great learning experience kids. The started putting out products like year in a row that the school has been reprefor our students. I love their excitement for they were part of the national journalism sented by at least one student. “There will be conference topics that are their work.” world. We had all of this great equipment She said the school has been working and we showed them that could be as viable things that we could not find anywhere here at home,” said Bannester. “They will be teachhard to develop its broadcast TV program a voice as other outlets.” over the past several years after voters and But the students did not stop after the pro- ing things that the students can bring back and implement into our own station. A lot of the school district invested $1.25 million for tests died down, according to Bannester. a new Media Convergence Center for the “It showed them that they could tackle big- it will also be a mix between high school and school. ger subjects,” she said, “which is sometimes college where they can learn what is happen“We have had our own radio station for hard to do in a school setting. Thankfully ing at the college level of broadcasting.” Bannester said students started working about 40 years,” said Bannester, “so we have our school administration supports the idea a ton of history with putting an emphasis on that they can be talking about bigger topics.” toward being able to be chosen for the trip journalism in the school.” For example, she said, students are cur- from the beginning of the school year. “We look at who has multiple entries in The radio station is the only one of its kind rently working on a piece about teen pregin the St. Louis region, but the new media nancy told from the point of view of the fa- the awards, who is a junior who can learn some new material and come back and be center provided much-needed technology ther and doing stories on teen suicide. updates and really spurred the students at “These types of stories had not been done able to lead next year,” she said. “This is a Ritenour to push themselves to achieve even before, but we have shown that we know huge impact on their lives. Putting this kind more, according to Bannester. how to do those in as insightful a way as pro- of investment into kids and seeing what they can do with it is amazing. We have been able “We knew we really needed to do some fessionals,” said Bannester. good work,” she said. “We set high bars for Students in the journalism program at Ri- to show that not only for our school disthe kids and they are meeting them. We now tenour have a variety of choices when they trict, but for the whole community, that they made a huge investment and that showed have a full studio where we can do both live start in the program. streaming and recorded work. We do jour“We start with an introductory course that the kids that they really believed in them.” All of the school’s media productions can nalism stories on our district and on the anyone can take where we focus some on whole area. We are actually a career and media literacy,” said Bannester, noting that be found online at http://ritenourlive.org. technical education program which not a lot advanced courses include radio, video proof other journalism courses are.” duction, and TV production. “We actually See more ‘TUNING’ on page 2
Serving North & Northwest St. Louis County | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 96 No. 4 | 636-379-1775
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