Episode # 36

Warrior Broadcast Crew: Students and Jennifer Haller

May 11, 2023

About This Episode

Whether they are putting together a pregame show for the next basketball game or recording the next TikTok during Warrior Time, you can bet that the students in the Warrior Broadcasting Crew at Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati – and their advisor Jennifer Haller – are working toward building community. Sometimes that means recording videos with other students during Warrior Time. Other times it’s about using their journalism skills to keep the neighborhood informed about activities at the school. No matter what they’re doing, these students are working together to inform, improve their communications skills and get ready for the next chapter of their lives.

[00:00:00]

 

Joining us today is the Warrior Broadcasting Crew from Winton Woods High School. So hey guys, thank you so much for chatting with us today. So I’m going to have each of you guys just introduce yourself to kick us off.

Hello, my name is Anlu Diem and I am a part of the Winton Woods Warrior Broadcasting Crew and I am a [00:01:00] sophomore.

My name is Jordan and I’m a senior.

My name is Kayla and I’m also a senior.

My name is Wisdom and I’m a senior.

My name is Imani and I’m also a senior.

I want to know at first from each of you how you decided to get involved in the broadcasting crew?

So it was pretty weird. I just saw Ms. Holler walking down the hallway with some cameras and I said are you recording people? And she said, yeah, but it’s for a warrior broadcasting crew.

And She said are you, I asked her, are you hiring? I love it. She said, yeah. And then, we started off last year with some juniors and sophomores. We started, like, doing the intros, and then as soon as the 2022 23 school year started, we started doing football, sports like basketball, like doing Twitter, doing videos, and [00:02:00] yeah.

At first I joined because of my friends. They, like, introduced me to it. After that I started to, like, actually like it and, like, it’s fun. It’s, like, broadcast and you get to, you know, interview people. It helped me kinda a lot with my communication. Yeah. Like, you know, it’s fun. I love it.

That’s awesome.

So I actually joined last year. It was pretty basic for me. I saw the email and I was like, oh my gosh, finally. It was like you know, I feel like we really needed something to like have like a just something to really get the word out there about, you know, what’s going on in the school.

Yeah, I was really happy when the email came out and I just started going to the meetings. I was ready to sign up.

Let me ask you a question really quick. This is a club, correct?

Yes, this is a club.

Okay. So like how many other clubs are there to choose from?

There’s probably about like 12, 12 other [00:03:00] clubs in the school.

And it takes place during the school day, correct?

Yes. We have something called a warrior room. Okay. And it’s basically like an advisory.

Okay. All right. Is it Kayla? Yeah. So she actually got me into this program at the beginning of this year. And honestly, I’ve really enjoyed it, what we’ve done so far. So I thank you for that. Yeah. I was basically like, Oh, can’t be in the boy broadcasting crew, which is okay.

And that’s how we got here.

And see, that’s how you recruit people. That’s how you build it.

I joined this year, like a couple months ago I remember Jordi was talking to me about it and she kind of got me into it because she was telling me what they do and, you know, what the program is like, what the club is like. And then I remember Ms. Haller came through and did recruiting. And that was like my last push to finally do it.

I was really interested in it because I feel like there’s a lot of miscommunications in the school with like what events are [00:04:00] going on and when things are, so I was really excited for it to be a very formal and I like the journalism aspect of it.

Very cool. So I know that Amadou mentioned sports and some other things around the school. So I guess my question to whoever wants to answer it is are each of you expected at all of the different sports or like, how is that determined?

So, she would ask us, Hey, there’s a next course coming up with, is anybody interested in going to this? And if we can, we’ll say yes. And she’ll put us on the list to go there.

Okay. So at sporting events, are you guys broadcasting in the sense of video or are you broadcasting just via text or what is your delivery?

Well, there’s multiple options. So since everybody’s not necessarily [00:05:00] required to be at each game you can choose what you want to do.

Like you have an option. Some people record and report and then some people live tweet the entire sporting event.

Oh, wow. That’s really cool. Yeah, that’s great.

Okay. Usually when I go to the games I just do like a pregame report of, you know, which is basically a summary of. You know, the team, the other team’s record, our record, how anticipated is the game you know, how full is the house basically? Yeah, it’s just a simple little pregame, just some videos and rising.

Okay, so besides sports, what else are you covering at the school?

Okay, so besides sports, we actually had an alumni. We’re still working on getting some more alumni to come in, but I just recently interviewed an alumni from Wynwoods, of course, but she does many things.

She’s a journalist. She was an author. She had her own YouTube. She was a concert creator. So it’s basically just showing that because, you know, we’re very, we’re [00:06:00] very football centered here at Wynwoods and I feel like a lot of other kids. They feel as if, Oh, if I’m not playing a sport here, I’m not gonna, you know, so I really just wanted to show the other students that they could do other things.

And then, so we hope to bring in some more alumni so that we can show, you know, different people with different careers who graduated from here that like it is possible.

That’s really cool. Giving different perspectives. Yeah. Cause when you’re living it, you don’t know what exists always out. Yes. outside or what people go on to do.

That’s really cool.

Okay. So I want to know too, from each of you, what your favorite part of being involved in this group is.

My favorite thing is I would say making graphics, interviews.

Yeah, really the interviews. I like the interviews. Because, again, like I said, it helped me with [00:07:00] communication because I’m not really, like, the talkative type. Like, even this is like, it’s like progress for me. Like, it’s helping. Yeah, that’s really cool. Yeah, it really helps me with my communication, self confidence.

Literally, it just helps me get out there. And I love that.

I love that. Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. You’re probably more like us where we’re introverted and prefer to be behind the scenes. That’s why a podcast works because you’re not technically in front of people and it can be edited. So we understand. All right.

Yeah. We recently just started a tick tock page where we post about our different rules here. I went in woods and stuff like that. And I really love social media aspect of it because I feel like that’s how you really can get, you know, get it instilled into their heads, even some students from other schools see our TikToks and, you know, it’s, I love that aspect of it. And I love talking and[00:08:00] being in front of the camera. I’m not an attention seeker, I just, I just like it.

Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with that. Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with that.

And so for me, I really like the writing part of Rory Broadcasting. I would make like articles on different sports and how like their season was going. I really enjoyed that.

And like the behind the scenes part, like. For a wisdom six o’clock, she would be in front of the camera and I would be behind recording and I’ve also actually gotten used to being in front of the camera as well. And I think that’s something that’s really enjoyable.

I haven’t had as much experience as everybody else because I joined kind of late, but so far I really enjoyed because I got to do photography really early on. So I got to photograph the games, which I really enjoyed because I love photography. Like I had my own camera a while ago.

So getting back into taking pictures was really nice. And I also really like graphics, like Jordi said, like we get to make our own graphics and like the [00:09:00] pregame graphics and then like the announcement graphics and then the end score graphics

my personal favorite is tweeting and interviewing the players. Before the game, like during school, we would interview the players and ask them, like what’s their confidence in the game, like, what is their plan to win this game sometimes what are their struggles, and we’d usually do a halftime report, I also like doing that, like saying, like, this is the game, the score, and how they’re doing, and, like, sometimes, like, what they need to do, and yeah.

, I love that you all like a different aspect of this. It seems like you guys work really well together and kind of like, fit together like a little puzzle. What would you say are some of the challenges that you have encountered doing this?

My challenges are interviewing the players. Like sometimes I would mess up,

for me, I would say it’s definitely trying to just get students involved. Like, it’s really hard. Like, that’s 1 thing we really struggled with here. [00:10:00] Just like trying to even get like a student section for like, when would like the games and everything, you know, if we can’t get students excited about, yeah, being involved within the school, it can make it hard for the community to get involved because our students aren’t showing that they want to be involved.

Anybody else?

I would say that my biggest challenge I stumble on my words a lot. So trying to do like halftime reporting or like pregame reporting was difficult, especially initially cause I had to do many takes to get the words right.

Because I definitely stumbled quite a bit.

Understandable. We get that. The planning. Yeah. Kara just had her first experience with the teleprompter. I loved it. Yes. No wonder people on TV, like always. Know what they’re gonna say and sound really confident and that’s fine. So we totally get stumbling over your words. .

Mm-hmm. One of my problems I would say is anxiety, because that’s something I really struggle with a lot [00:11:00] but again, this club is really helping me with that

that’s great. Working through your challenge.

The biggest challenge for me would be like keeping up with the, with the group. Cause I would say Wisdom and I are involved in like many other clubs and we’re also, she’s president of our student body and I’m vice president.

So we do a lot of stuff every day. And so being consistent with the content and like the reports for the games is actually very hard to keep up with.

Got a lot on the plate.

Do you guys think that being involved in this group is going to help you in the future? And if so, how, like whether you were going to pursue broadcasting or not, do you think you’re building skills with being involved in this group that are just going to help you in future endeavors all around?

I definitely do because when I go to college in the fall, I’m about to be looking for a club that’s similar to this because I love it.

Like, it’s just like. It’s just [00:12:00] like being a little news reporter, you know, who doesn’t want to, I mean, you grow up watching the news, you look at ESPN, Oh my gosh, that was so fun. But it’s just like, it’s just like a different experience. It’s like something fun to do, you know, somebody asked, Oh, what do you do?

And we’re broadcasting. Oh, what is that? It’s just like a conversation starter. It’s just like. a fun thing. It’s a great way to meet new people. And just like seeing like Kayla, like, like we are together all the time and just seeing her like get out of her shell as time progressed with the club. It was really cool to see.

So hopefully like other people, you know, in the future, if I do do this continually, I can maybe if even if we don’t have a club in college, I can maybe start one, you know, it’s just like, I know I can tell her for help. So I it definitely helped me definitely.

Anybody else?

Yeah, I definitely feel like this will help me moving forward.

I plan on pursuing a major in business and marketing. So I’ve never really had experience in any other like course or [00:13:00] club with making graphics or being in charge as much as I am in this club, because we have a lot of creative control, which I think Ms. Haller for, cause she’s really pushed. that this is a student ran program and we have a lot of say in what we do

It’ll help me in the future because of the communication skills I gained. Not only does it like help me like talk to people more, I think it definitely helped me with networking and it even helped me get a little scholarship too, because they’re like, yeah, you’re in a broadcast.

That’s different. I was like, yeah. And they kept asking me questions about it in the interview. And I was like, yeah, it really impressed them . It’s just a really good conversation starter.

I want to have my own business and in order to make your business out there, you’re going to definitely have to. Show yourself out there.

After me joining the group and like my parents and like my family saw it, they were like, you should really get into broadcasting. It really suits you.

I was like, really? And back then it was [00:14:00] like, I never would have thought of it as like a outlet for me or anything. So. Again, it is helping me like with my communication skills and everything. So it is something that I’ll look forward to doing in the future. That’s great.

For me, it’s definitely helped a lot because before I even joined the club, I was like, a really, really shy, quiet kid and I wouldn’t talk to anyone and then through the club, I was able to interview people and, you know, record people.

So I think that definitely has, you know, maybe more open to talk to people and like, like wisdom said, it’s such like a conversation starter. So I think once you know, you talk to people about it, they get really interested in it. And I think that that’s really helpful for me to, you know, become more open minded and be more communicative.

All those things. I mean, anytime you start a new job and you’re meeting a new group of people, it’ll just serve you guys all very well in the future for lots of reasons [00:15:00] from all the behind the scenes stuff with the graphics, as well as like the communication piece.

You know, these students really kind of took a chance you know, on joining this club and, you know, being leaders in wanting to see it grow and you know where it is. And these aren’t, you know, the only members we have others the others just.

We’re just excited about being in a podcast, but which is kind of funny, but they, you know, these guys just really took a chance on themselves and even on myself and Mrs. Albers and Mr. Walker to, you know, say, Hey, this is something brand new. I want to be part of something new. I want to be part of this.

And, you know, we’ve basically pushed them to step outside of their shells. Like a lot of them have said, and, you know, then they’ve also, we’ve pushed them to come up with ideas, you know, they’ll always, they’ll kind of ask, well, what should we do? And I’m like, what do you want to do? I [00:16:00] mean, they probably all will tell you, I’ve probably frustrated them a little bit where I’m like, I don’t, I don’t know.

What do you want to do? You, you think of something, you find, figure something out. So, you know, I think it’s just really. Is, is a compliment to them, you know, especially a lot of them stepped out of their comfort zone to want to do this. And, and I know that a lot of them also, one of the new things we’re talking about is how can we recruit?

Because as you see, a lot of them are seniors. And so, you know, for, for Amadou and 1 or 2 others are the only underclassmen that’ll be, you know, so we need to, you know, Recruit and I know that the outgoing seniors, I think all agree that we need to recruit because they want to see this continue and be an opportunity for other students.

So I just want to say something to the parents, not only like encouraging your students to get involved in some clubs, it plays a huge part in, you know, getting involvement with students because if, you know, if we have that encouragement from the parents, it all starts at the house. [00:17:00] You know what I mean?

If people see this stuff, you know, with TikTok, it’s not like, you’re not just seeing that in school. You’re seeing that at home. We can encourage more students if we start with the parents, you know what I mean? So just encouraging, you know, parents, guardians, aunt, uncle, whatever. Just encouraging your students to be in not only like warrior broadcasting, but just clubs in general.

We have so much to offer here at Wynn Woods with the clubs and everything. So I feel like just getting, you know, your child encouraged to just go out to the community, you know, get people to branch out, get them out of their comfort zone. I feel like it could really, really help. It could really help. We need, we need to get some help with Ms.

Howler especially. You know what I mean? I just wanted to, you know, say that. Just, you know, just some encouragement would be amazing for upcoming students, incoming students, you know, any student you know, just to come in and get involved in some clubs. We’re not a sports school, we’re a community.

This bell right now that’s like the warrior time, if kids aren’t involved in a club, what do they [00:18:00] do?

So Warrior Bell is pretty much free reign. It’s like some football players and sports people, they’re together . You got National Arts Society. We usually have meetings where we’re broadcasting. We’re in one classroom together. It’s really just free reign. You can, you know, use this time to study. If Ms. Howler was sending us to do a task, we’ll go off and do this. This will usually be our time to record videos, actually, like TikToks and things like that.

So I have to chime in from the administrative side of it. It is really, it was meant as a time for students to get support and they’re learning their studies if needed.

They could also use it as because we are a project based learning school. So if they were working on a group project that they could get together with their group. So it would be an extra time that they could work on that. I know some of our students, they need to make up a test. They need to get some help, then they’re allowed to go see that teacher.

And then also, yes, like, like wisdom said, different groups, different clubs meet during this [00:19:00] time, then as well.

Well, thank you guys so much for talking to us. We really appreciate it. And it’s really cool to hear what you got going on. Thank you for having us. Bye! Thank you so much for having us.

 

 

Guests

Warrior Broadcasting Crew from Winton Woods High School

The Warrior Broadcasting Crew is a new club started last spring at Winton Woods High School. The WBC features current Warrior clubs, activities and especially the athletic teams through the use of social media and streaming broadcasts. So whether students want to be in front of the camera or behind it, if they want to be heard announcing the varsity football game or posting about it, they have the opportunity to do so. They also learn how to create graphics and write articles about these events as well.