Video students to film Chief's football game in Seattle

Moses Lake video production students traveling to historic game

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake High School football team is traveling to Seattle on Sept. 1 for an invitation-only game against Auburn at Qwest Field, and the school's video production class will be there to catch all the action.

Instructor Bob Schroder said the class is recording along with the "big boys," offering students an opportunity to see what the business is like.

The class hopes to air the game Tuesday and Thursday on channel 3 in Moses Lake.

In addition to covering football games, the vocational class records other events including basketball, wrestling, volleyball, bowling, swimming, drama and Christmas concerts, making about 70 out-of-class trips per year.

"That's a lot of TV," Schroder said.

Although school started today, students remained busy during the summer, recording for two weeks at the fair and setting up equipment on Tuesday to prepare for freshman orientation. In all, students spend about 400 hours working outside of class, Schroder said.

Despite the heavy workload, the class is continually full — including four periods offered during school hours and one remote class. The equipment they use is state-of-the art; this year, they received two cameras capable of recording in high definition, paid for by a federal grant.

"We're the first high school in the state to go high def," Schroder said. The class also received a computer from the district allowing them to run a top-of-the-line editing program used in the professional world.

Sabrina Falagan, 16, a junior who has been in the class since the end of her freshman year, compared the class to a job. If someone calls in sick, she has to be ready to step up.

"I love it," Falagan said. "It's one of my favorite classes. It gives me something to do."

Students say the class changed their view of movies and television. When Falagan watches television now, she finds herself picking out the mistakes of the cameramen.

Eian Pickett, 15, a sophomore who started the class last year, said the class ruined his enjoyment of television.

"I start watching a show, and I can't enjoy it anymore," Pickett said.

Hyrum Powell, 17, a senior who has been in the class since his sophomore year, said "I look for problems in movies, and then I tell everyone."

Christine Armstrong, vocational director at the high school, said the class allows students to learn about careers outside those they are typically exposed to in the area. Students generally see a limited number of occupations compared with the number actually available, Armstrong said. They can travel outside the Moses Lake area, too.

"Kids need to get out around here," she said.

The vocational classes are also offered to students from out of the district who get approval from their superintendent. This semester, a student from Ephrata is taking the video production class.

"I think it does keep a lot of them in school that normally wouldn't stay in school," Schroder said.

Not every student is college-bound, but they do need to train themselves for some career, Armstrong said.

All of the students interviewed said they were looking at some type of video recording career — Falagan wants to either be a shooter or a technical director, Powell wants to make movies and has an interest in video editing and Pickett wants to be a special effects director.

The students also said the class helps prepare them for higher education in the field and they plan to attend college.

"I really look forward to going to college for it," Falagan said.

Pickett, one of the students going on the trip to Seattle, said the bigger production teams run far more cameras than the four they are bringing, so he is interested in watching how they operate.

"I just want to see them and see what they do," he said.