BROADCASTING AND VIDEO CLUB GET A NEEDED LIFT

Thanks to a generous grant from the North Royalton Educational Foundation, the high school broadcasting class and video club are now taking to the skies with “Air Bear,” a DJI drone that allows students to expand their video production skills.

Broadcasting teacher and Video Club advisor, Mr. Hemery, said, “We have been trying to obtain this technology for many years, but costs were prohibiting our ability to provide this tech to the students, as there was always something else that was more critical in our studio. Finally, thanks to the generosity of NREF, we are able to expose students to this cutting-edge technology.”

Immediately after the drone was delivered, the class began using it for weather and traffic reports. Lily Purtee, NRHS TV News’ weather-person extraordinaire, said, “I love doing the weather, and this is just an added layer to the broadcast. Instead of me just saying what it’s like out in the courtyard, we can actually show the students current conditions around the school grounds.”

NRHS TV News aired its first drone weather report on May 5, and it has continued to incorporate it into various aspects of its broadcast. Jason Skudrin has taken over pilot duties for the morning broadcasts, and is becoming quite deft at maneuvering the drone around the campus.

In addition to being used for practical purposes, students are already beginning to see other uses for their creative endeavors. Senior Criss Ann Valenti plans to use the drone for an upcoming assignment that will be debuted to all students in a few weeks. She said, “We are going to use this amazing tech to give us a different perspective that hasn’t been used at NRHS before. What’s cool is we can use it not only for aerial videography, but we can capture shots on the ground that would otherwise be unobtainable.”

The sky is literally the limit, as students begin to explore all of the possibilities this new broadcasting tool affords them. Be sure to keep your heads up, because Air Bear has arrived!