From 7:50 to 8:49 on every full day of school, 20 McCaskey students produce, write, film, edit, and livestream the WMCC Tornado Alert Morning Show, which features everything from campus sports news and information about upcoming events to current events reports and special videos. 

“It’s a lot,” said Tacura Tobler, a senior who’s been in the class for a year and a half. 

Since late August, Juniors and Seniors in the TV Production Course have been rotating daily through a set of different roles, which include anchor, livestream operator, producer, scriptwriter, camera operator, and more. They have made good use of a TV studio, control room, and Mac Lab, and just a few weeks ago held the longest live show in WMCC history, welcoming Principal Reese for his second guest appearance on the show.

But at this time in 2021, there were no students anywhere in the control room, studio, or Mac Lab. 

“I think last year, if it was up to the class, we would have done one show a week,” says Tacura. 

The Morning Show of late 2020 and early 2021 was filmed through zoom and then edited and sent out by Media Studies teacher Natalie Nolt. It was difficult for students, who sometimes had connection issues and also couldn’t perform many of the behind-the-scenes production roles that they were used to.  But with the energy and positivity of Ms. Nolt and Ms. Chery (a long-term sub), students were able to keep the show going.

“The pandemic last year in a lot of ways was the best thing that happened for us,” says Nolt. “Initially when we started the school year, we didn’t have any students here. So it forced all of the adults to figure it all out. And then that really gave us the confidence that when students did come back in that hybrid model, we could train them super well.”

With the 2021 return to in-person instruction came the addition of technological benefits such as the ability to livestream the Tornado Alert. The installation of a new tricaster system allowed for more involved graphics, lower thirds, videos, and other concepts, and because of all the time they had spent on Zoom over the previous school year, WMCC students were, with some encouragement from Ms. Nolt, ready to jump right into the 2021-22 school year with a live show on the first day of school.  

An observer of the Tornado Alert behind the scenes would easily be able to tell that WMCC not only offers excellent learning opportunities and real-world experience, but that it also motivates and brings together the students involved in its production.

“It’s what I wake up to do,” says Sujan Upretti, a senior who is hoping to go into broadcast journalism as a career. 

Aspiring newscasters like Sujan, who enjoy the spotlight, are able to practice their public speaking skills through WMCC, while students like Graem Alden, who are more interested in behind-the-scenes production, are able to shine in roles such as floor manager, video editor, and video switcher.

“(The show has) kind of changed me as a person entirely,” says Graem. “Before, I was really camera shy. If people had asked me to do an interview like we’re doing right now, I would have said no…. but being in the show has  shifted my view on a lot of things.”

“It gives our students a voice and a place to celebrate themselves,” says Ms. Pyfer, a theater and media studies teacher who helps to run the show with Ms. Nolt. “For students on the production team, it empowers them. They work collaboratively each day, so they are forced to develop relationships and hold one another accountable,” she adds.

Because students have such a big impact on the Tornado Alert and the material it showcases, they’re able to successfully connect with the student body through the scripts that they write, videos they film, edit, and star in, and guests that they feature, creating a show that is interesting, funny, and encourages schoolwide pride in McCaskey. 

“We’re really proud of the show that we put out,” adds Tacura. “Even if we mess up, or if we have a ‘bad’ show, we still did this completely live, completely run by students, so there’s always a sense of pride…We talk a lot about that family, and I want everybody to understand how much we mean that, when we say WMCC is a family.”