Mandan High School students get creative in Braves Broadcast Class

MANDAN, N.D. (KFYR) - To help students harness their creativity and learn priceless public speaking skills, Mandan High School started the Braves Broadcast Class. Students put together a newscast from start to finish weekly.

As soon as the bell rings, these students get right to work creating their newscasts.

“My favorite part of it is just being able to put whatever we want out and everybody can see it. It’s pretty cool,” said Lola Petrick, a 9th grader.

Their teacher took a broadcast class in high school and wanted to get one started in Mandan. Each day the students edit, shoot video, write, produce, and work together as a team.

“When I came to Mandan, I took a couple of years to kind of see if we could get that same sense of community at Mandan High School and just keep everybody a little bit more on the same page and be more excited about being involved in school pride,” said Kelsey Brashears, teacher.

Some students take time to make sure the sound is good, and others create graphics. They all work together as a team.

“It’s been really cool to see how it all comes together in the end, especially paying attention to the little details and then seeing the big picture at the end,” said Keya Condon, a 9th grader.

The students also need to make script deadlines, which their teacher thinks will help them in their future endeavors.

“Oh, yeah, definitely, since you’re independent it kind of goes hand in hand. You kind of become more creative with it,” said Reed Petrick, a 10th grader.

Whatever careers students pursue in the future, they say they are learning valuable lessons on how to use technology.

“It’s honestly really different. I didn’t think I’d be able to make my own graphics in the computer, because before I had no clue how to use the computer even,” said Sundriana Shane, a 9th grader.

The broadcast airs at the beginning of the week on Canvas, MHS’s learning platform, for students and faculty to watch and enjoy.

When the new Mandan High School is built, Brashears hopes the program will keep growing and improving with more students getting involved.

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