SHS students broadcasting to community

Anyone wanting to know what is going on at Shafter High School only needs to tune in daily for an update, presented by the students at SHS, over their HQTV broadcast, which is available on their YouTube channel.

The broadcast journalism class, taught by Jerald Pierucci is getting ready to upgrade so the class will be able to broadcast across even more mediums, allowing them to cover volleyball and , basketball games live for the entire community.

When Pierucci started at Shafter High, he talked to Principal Russell Shipley about offering a broadcast journalism class, similar to the one that he taught at East High School. "Mr. Shipley was all for the idea, and we moved forward on obtaining the equipment needed for the class. We began with a simple broadcast of the daily announcements, plus a few highlights, such as what is in our daily bulletin."

This grew into a regular broadcast of school news and activities.. "Every year, we worked on getting more equipment, so we could do more things for the class. We just finished producing a broadcast of the play put on by the Shafter High Drama Club, which can be viewed by anyone in the community."

According to Pierucci, the school received a grant from the state, as well as equipment from the Kern High School District that improved their facilities and capabilities. "We are nearing about $750,000 worth of equipment that we are using in our projects," he said.

Pierucci also said that he is in the process of writing up a proposal that would make the class a two-year program. "After finishing this class, the students will have knowledge that would help them advance in the field if they are interested in pursuing it."

These students include Laurel Franz, who is in her second year of the class. "My counselor suggested this class to me, and at first I wasn't real excited about it. But I realized that it is such a fun class, and it is now my favorite."

Franz, who plans on pursuing a career in film production, said that one thing she loves about the class is that the students are given tasks to do to meet goals, but they are pretty much left on their own to get the jobs done. "We do a lot of the production by ourselves, responsible for the jobs, giving us a real feeling of accomplishment," she said.

Another student is Alexis Lopez. Lopez has been in the class for over a year and said that she enjoys it a lot and is using the experience to prepare her for after high school. "I want to be a sports broadcaster after school, so this class has been perfect for me, giving so much valuable experience and skills that I can use for the rest of my life."

The daily broadcasts and sports events can be viewed onYoutube. Just search for HQTV News on the site.