Farmington's Broadcast Journalism Program To Expand

Gabriel Ruiz, a sophomore in Fundamentals of Broadcast Journalism at Farmington High School, is editing the class' Early Bird news show using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Gabriel Ruiz, a sophomore in Fundamentals of Broadcast Journalism at Farmington High School, is editing the class' Early Bird news show using Adobe Premiere Pro.

FARMINGTON -- Farmington High School has received about $87,500 in grants to upgrade and expand its broadcast journalism department so that it can become a certified program through the Arkansas Department of Education, according to Brian Dean, broadcast journalism teacher.

Dean said Farmington High received a $62,475 start-up grant from the state that will be used to purchase equipment for the classroom, including iMacs, Macbook Pros, cameras and lenses, headsets and microphones.

The start-up grant will provide money to purchase equipment the program needs to become certified as a part of the education department's Division of Career and Technical Education (CTE), Dean said.

Students in CTE programs receive hands-on experience and training as part of their courses. Farmington's broadcast journalism classes already provide hands-on training and, with the start-up grant, this will allow the school to expand on this, Dean said.

"We'll develop a newsroom and do everything a newsroom would do," Dean said.

Clayton Williams, Farmington High assistant principal, said the start-up grant allows Farmington to create a "pathway" for students in broadcast journalism. Students who take a broadcast journalism class in 10th-12th grades will be able to receive a "concentrator" certificate, or as it was previously called, a "completer" certificate.

Students also will have the opportunity to receive certificates when they become proficient in certain software programs, such as Adobe Premiere.

By taking all three courses -- Fundamentals of Television, Intermediate Television and Advanced Television -- students will graduate from high school knowing how to shoot video, edit video, conduct interviews, make news packages and be in front of a camera, Dean said.

"This means they are deemed work ready coming out of high school, " Dean said. "Obviously, I would encourage all of my students to go on to college but if they want to work behind the scenes at a TV station, they'll have a leg up."

Dean also applied for and received a second grant for $25,000 from Casey's General Store and its Casey's Cash for Classrooms program. This money also will be used to purchase equipment, Dean said.

Dean said he plans to purchase the new equipment this summer, and the program will be certified beginning with the 2021-22 school year.

"This is a great opportunity for the kids, our school and the community," Dean said. "We already broadcast all games, home and away, and this will further develop our program into real world knowledge and hands-on training."

The goal, Dean said, is to produce a professional-style sports broadcast program that mimics what a sports fan would watch on ESPN.

"For our community, we want to put out a better product for them to watch," Dean said.

Farmington High has other pathways for students, including pre-engineering, biomedical, business, agriculture, and family and consumer science.

To create a new CTE pathway at Farmington, Dean also had to become certified to teach the courses. What makes the broadcast journalism pathway so unique at Farmington, Williams said, is Dean's experience in the field.

Dean, who has a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Arkansas, worked with KNWA 24/51 from late 2000-2003 and also worked with a company in Fayetteville that produced and broadcasted a weekly local car race from Thundervalley Speedway in Fayetteville and Monet Speedway in Monet, Mo.

Dean said he believes a broadcast journalism program is important because most people now get their news, weather and sports from television.

"News has to be reported," Dean said. "We have audio learners, visual learners and both audio and visual learners. Television captures all three of those aspects."

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER
Ashlee Klotzbuecher, a senior at Farmington High School, plans to attend the University of Missouri and major in journalism. She's mainly interested in writing and would like to be a travel journalist. Klotzbuecher has been involved in the school's broadcast journalism program.
LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Ashlee Klotzbuecher, a senior at Farmington High School, plans to attend the University of Missouri and major in journalism. She's mainly interested in writing and would like to be a travel journalist. Klotzbuecher has been involved in the school's broadcast journalism program.
LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER
Robbie Evans, a sophomore, gives the news for the Early Bird news program produced by students in Farmington High School's broadcast journalism program. The three-minute segment airs every morning.
LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Robbie Evans, a sophomore, gives the news for the Early Bird news program produced by students in Farmington High School's broadcast journalism program. The three-minute segment airs every morning.