GAHANNA, Ohio — Television production is both an art and a science. Most high schools offer some variation of a TV program and these classes are inspiring future journalists.
At Gahanna Lincoln High School, Mr. Lowrie’s television production class is gearing up for their morning newscast, “Lincoln Live.” The students produce a nine-minute broadcast that airs live throughout the building at the start of each school day.
With just seconds until news time, everyone’s in position and ready to go.
“Nine minutes every day,” says adviser Mark Lowrie. “I always tell the kids you have to feed the beast and the beast is here for nine minutes a day and you’ve got to feed it whether you’re ready or not.”
But this isn’t just a class for these students. They’re sharing news that matters to their classmates and the “Lincoln Live” students take that seriously. They broadcast from a state-of-the-art control room and a news set that was designed and built by students with help from teachers.
“There is a story in just about everything you do,” said GLHS senior Wesley Triplett. “You can go anywhere, and you can tell anyone’s story.”
These young journalists have a lot to be proud of.
“We’ve made leaps and bounds since the beginning of this year to now. We’ve had a lot of practice. I mean, we’ve done about 107 shows so far this year,” Lowrie said.
In fact, these students have been recognized for their work on “Lincoln Live.” They’ve won seven Regional Emmys and one National Emmy for Student Production from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
“When we heard our name for those awards, we were all so excited,” says GLHS Senior Caroline Mattox. “Our hard work finally paid off and we were being recognized. But then we also realized, now we have a level of expectation.”
As the program evolves, the interest among students is growing.
“I’ve always had a passion for journalism and writing and ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always written stories,” Mattox said.
But even if journalism isn’t their career of choice, there are other benefits to taking the television production class.
“I think having Mr. Lowrie as a teacher and going through his classes has helped make me a little more outgoing and it’s a lot easier to speak in front of people. It’s a lot easier to communicate,” Triplett said.
In the past several years, Lowrie has expanded the television program at Gahanna Lincoln High School to include documentary production and sports production.
In addition to their student news awards, “Lincoln Sports Zone” has also won an Emmy for Best Sports Program.