Trojan TV opens doors for New Kent students

New Kent sophomores Mary Katherine Harman (left) and Michael Sorensen (right) anchor the desk as they broadcast the morning announcements to New Kent High School.

Andre' Jones photos

Each morning at approximately 7:41 a.m. at New Kent High School, students take their seats for their first period class. More importantly, Promethean Boards linked to the Internet tune into many classrooms’ favorite station: Trojan TV.

A simple concept of taking morning announcements and giving them a visual appeal has become a hit at the high school. In turn, that idea has blossomed into an opportunity for students in the classroom of Career and Technical Education teacher David Haviland.

The concept for Haviland to have an audio/visual class wasn’t new to the teacher who had 12 years in broadcast journalism before entering the educational field. Behind support from administration, Haviland launched a program with endless opportunities.

“I wanted to get kids ready to work in the real world,” Haviland said. “I wanted them to get the feel of how to work with a tight time schedule and deal with situations that may suddenly pop up in life.”

Last year, Haviland experimented with the concept of video broadcasting. Through preparation and a few dedicated students, the team broadcast the 2014 New Kent High School graduation from the Siegel Center in Richmond. Despite the success, Haviland knew more could be done.

“It was difficult to find an online service with enough bandwidth to run our program,” he said. “But then, we found ‘The Cube’ [an on-line hosting web site] and it really helped us get the ball rolling.”

The former journalist said his role is more as a supervisor and not a teacher when broadcasting the morning and afternoon announcements. A team of seven students organize and script the show. From putting together videos during live production to shooting on location, students work in-depth to get every detail right.

“These kids are self-motivated and know what to do,” Haviland continued. “I have seen the kids’ confidence grow and I have heard feedback from teachers that the students look forward to it every morning.”

On the morning of Jan. 30, students got to see the faces of sophomores Mary Katherine Harman and Michael Sorensen, two students who said the on-air program has positively influenced their lives.

“On the very first day, I was really nervous and shaky,” said Harman. “I was on the very first show and was ‘put’ up there to do it.”

She has a different view of a prospective journalism career now that she’s become comfortable in her role.

“This has helped me with my public speaking and my projects,” continued Harman. “It’s also kind of fun knowing that people know me from the broadcast when I walk down the hall.”

Sorensen indicated the show has seen a lot of growth from its initial inception.

“From the first show to now, we didn’t have everything going as we wanted to,” the sophomore commented. “We weren’t really organized as we are now.

“At first, I was nervous to do this but now, this is a normal day for me,” he concluded.

The broadcast isn’t restricted just to students in the school. Parents and faculty can view the program as well, receiving information on upcoming events such as SAT testing, parent-teacher conferences, and sporting events.

As the broadcast continues to grow, Haviland said there are many exciting projects on the way for his students in the near future.

“In April, we are participating in a state film festival,” he said. “We also plan to broadcast a live kiln fire for elementary students to watch safely.

“We also plan to do sports as well once we have the capacity of high-speed Internet,” the teacher continued. “Being able to produce these types of programs gives our students the ability to have hands-on interaction with the latest technology.”

Trojan Television can be seen at www.thecube.com/cube/nkhstv every morning and every afternoon. Previous programs may be viewed as well.

“You’d be surprise how many people have already watched it thanks to our social media page,” Haviland said as he wrapped up the interview. “Alumni and even those in the military who graduated from here watch us to know what’s going on in the school.”

Instructor David Haviland (right) reviews final scripts for the broadcast show as students work behind the scene to ensure a quality production.