Audio/Video Production 2 students are taking on a new role this year. Instead of putting on the PIT Stops, AV 2 students are live broadcasting and making podcasts for their Youtube channel.

“We started doing some of the original live shows with some of the kids last year but we didn’t really do any streaming or put it on Youtube,” AV teacher Michael Ellis said. “It was more of just a ‘lets experiment and try this’. This year we’ve taken it a step further. I give this year’s kids a lot of credit on really trying to start adding live media.”

Senior Carlos Alvarez-Roth runs the general AV podcast, while seniors Sami Jarbouh and George Young run a music podcast.

“Everyone has a role and everyone’s involved,” Alvarez-Roth said. “We have have a whole set for it with a bunch of cameras going on. There’s the tricaster, images and graphics and sound so it’s a pretty big class effort.”

Each class member’s role is just as important as the other, and are dedicated to their time and commitment to the class and production.

“I work the tricaster,” senior Connor Schulte said. “It’s a two to three day commitment but definitely worth the excitement of it being live.”

The AV class has gone through a series of models for this project in years past and have finally accomplished that goal.The updated Youtube channel now has 12 subscribers.

“What’s really neat is the way the kids have integrated not just in the AV class but they’ve also made it a point to pull in people from different areas,” Ellis said. “We have teachers as guests and students from different places such as theater arts, robotics, student government. It’s really helped the program generally in its exposure and grow a little more around campus.”

The live broadcasting and podcasts have helped the AV students get a more insightful look into what a real  production environment looks like. When they’re doing a live show, students have to be ready for anything.

“I think this is a great opportunity,” Ellis said. “I like the little extra nerves you get when its live and there are no second takes; it adds a little pressure that really helps them rise to the challenge and emulates that professional environment that they’re going to see eventually.”

Ellis wants to perfect the podcast even further. The class is already planning for next semester.

“For next semester I’d like to get some consistency,” Ellis said. “I’d really like to schedule [the shows] in advance which would help with our marketing and advertising. This will also help leadership and future growth. That’s what I’d like to focus on, getting the business end of putting on productions.”

Watch the VHS Media Productions’ podcasts and live broadcasts by clicking here.