As the 2011-2012 school year comes to an end, CHTV staff members continue to work on their final assignments for the semester and also plan for next year. All levels of CHTV students are currently working on assignments that will prepare them for higher levels of telecommunications.

“The beginning level is practicing doing morning announcements since that is the primary responsibility of the intermediate level,” CHTV supervisor Erin Thorpe said. “The students are doing fake run-throughs of announcements and rotating roles just to get the hang of it for next year.”

Jala Washington,  beginning level CHTV student and junior, said she likes being on set as an anchor most of the time and looks forward to the morning announcements she will get to be a part of next year.

“I’m also looking forward to covering sports because they are very lively and exciting. I hope to be a sideline reporter at sporting events next year,” Washington said.

Intermediate level classes continue their work on morning announcements but their last project of the year will be a how-to instructional video.

“The videos will cover how to work just about all the equipment here at CHTV,” Thorpe said. “These videos can work as reference for future CHTV students working in the field who can’t remember exactly how to use a certain piece of equipment. Students with smart phones can pull up these videos on YouTube and know instantly what to do.”

The advanced students are wrapping up all of their studio shows with the mayor, superintendent, principal, and other officials of Carmel.

“They are also working on still renovating the studio,” Thorpe said. “We are waiting for the arrival of our furniture which is slated to arrive towards the end of May and hopefully it will arrive before the seniors graduate so they can see their work.”

All of the advanced students are seniors, Thorpe said, and she estimated that at least half will go on to college to pursue a career in telecommunications.

“For most of them, this is what they want to do as a career path. If they’re not going to continue on in TV, then they are likely to continue on in communications or public relations which are all becoming so multi-media oriented.”

In the future, Thorpe said she plans to change a lot of things that when looking back on this school year, didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

“This was my first year as a teacher, my first year as a station manager, and my first year for a lot of things,” Thorpe said. “Now I’ve seen a whole year go through and I know what needs to be prepared, what needs to function better, and basically just organize my thoughts throughout the year.”

When looking back at her time spent in CHTV this year, Washington said she enjoyed the people in her class the most.

“I had a chance to meet a lot of people at Carmel. Whether it was the students I met while completing assignments or the students in my class who shared a common interest in broadcasting with me,” Washington said. “This, in my opinion, was the most valuable part of being in CHTV.”