WKU School of Media hosts annual Broadcasting and TV Production summer workshop

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - For one week in the summer, high school students attend WKU school of media’s hands on summer workshop. The five students have gotten to learn in the ins and outs of what goes on in a broadcasting studio.

Amea Woodard, Bria Byrd, Emily Salcedo, Peyton Mangione and Sterling Spears all came to the workshop to see if this is something they could see themselves doing in life. In specific details, they learned the camera fundamentals, live studio operations, advanced interviewing techniques, nonlinear editing, visual graphics and more. And at the end of the camp on Saturday, the group will present their group project to their families.

WKU Assistant Professor Brian Elliott is in charge of the workshop and has been teaching at WKU full time for five years. And for him, teaching the future of the industry is something he lives for.

“I really hope the students end up loving television production as much as I do,” Elliott said. “It’s something I didn’t do before I got to Western, then I came to Western and that’s what I got my degree in. I’ve been a part of Western for decades now. It’s teaching children, something that I love, and hopefully spark a love in themselves.”

A few of the students are rising seniors in high school, meaning they still have plenty of time to figure out what it is they want to do after they graduate and the experience is helping some students shape their future.

“For this week. It’s not only just a trial run for college, but it’s also if broadcasting is something that I really want to do in the future this week could most definitely be the answer,” Salcedo said.

And a few of them want to get into the sports world. Emily Salcedo wants to join the racing world, specifically Formula One Racing. Sterling Spears wants to become a sideline reporter. And Bria Byrd has been around sports all of her life, including having multiple family members on professional sports teams including D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers. She wants to work for ESPN one day.

If you ask the future broadcasters if they’d recommend the next generation to participate, they’ll tell you it’s worth every second of your time.

“Yeah, I really I really liked it so far. And I’m learning a lot and I feel really passionate about it. So yeah, this is something I’m definitely really interested in,” Spears said.

“I would recommend that anyone that wants to like do broadcasting definitely come here to one of these programs,” Mangione said.

“I would definitely recommend this to to someone who wants to do this. This is a great opportunity. I would make sure somebody knows about this,” Woodard said.

Some of their favorite parts of the week include shooting and recording in the podcast studio, getting to tour the campus, and of course, the food.

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