Broadcast journalists at Gahanna Lincoln High School have added three more awards to their overflowing trophy case.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences handed the student-run news network top honors for best newscast for “Lincoln Live,” best sports program for the “Lincoln Sports Zone” and best video essay for “Remembering #7” for Audrey Paquette’s coverage of the Dwayne Haskins candlelight vigil at Ohio Stadium.
“It’s crazy because I know the kind of competition that’s out there in the country,” said Mark Lowrie, teacher of the broadcast program at Lincoln High School.
The program, which has earned multiple journalism prizes since its debut in 1987, edged out schools in California, Arizona, Texas and Indiana for the top awards in those categories of the National Student Production Awards, Lowrie said.
The team of students is responsible for all duties at the station, including filming, editing, writing and on-air broadcasts.
“Lincoln Live” airs at 9:15 a.m. four days a week, Wednesday being the exception, for 11 minutes, and the sports program is broadcast once a week for 25 minutes or so.
“It’s really cool to see the hard work we’ve put into it and have it be rewarded,” said senior Jillian Sanders, who plans to major in journalism next fall at Ohio University.
Sanders, who is co-executive producer with fellow senior Rei Tedoco, said all students who want to join the program must take an introductory course to qualify and then be hand-selected by Lowrie.
Mia Sammons, also a senior, said Lowrie encouraged her to get into the program, something she hadn’t considered. The network caused her to rethink her career path and she also plans to study journalism at Ohio University.
“Coming in and learning the stuff changed my whole perspective,” Sammons said.
Lowrie, who’s been the instructor for four years, has 10 years in the broadcast-news business, having worked locally at Channels 6 and 10 and the CBS affiliate in Cleveland.
The Lincoln High School studio went through a major upgrade, with the school’s fabrication lab, or Fab Lab, building the new set, which made its debut in January. The studio is complete with teleprompters, computers and a glassed-in control room.
Students attend the class for two periods a day and also work on projects in their spare time.
“It’s worth it,” Tedoco said. “It’s rough.”
“You get a work ethic that a lot of other people don’t,” added senior Angel Christmon, who hasn’t decided on a future career. “And that’s what I like about it.”
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