BECHS would like to thank our partners at Teen Scene, Inc. for organizing this field trip. Nancy Bryans, Teen Scene Editor, participated in the tour.
ECHS Journalism Class took an exciting tour of the WWAY studios in Leland.
The tour, given by meteorologist Ramel Carpenter, consisted of the main areas of the studio, including the control room and the actual studio where each broadcast is made.
“I really liked the meteorologist as he was kind and charismatic. If I had a passion for journalism, he really would have inspired me to pursue it,” says Freshman Ava Holt.
Students were also allowed to meet some of the people who set up the stories for the day and to learn the process behind what Carpenter does.
“The trip was amazing because we got to see how meteorologists work behind the scenes and their process,” says Freshman Braydon Sessa.
For example, most people think that Ramel Carpenter looks at one screen and puts together a weather report. But the truth is he uses satellites from all over the world to get a more accurate view of current and future weather.
“Ramel Carpenter was really nice, and when he let us take turns pretending to do the weather, I kind of thought it was something I could do one day,” says Freshman Ma’Kenzy Frink.
As said in their quotes, students also got the chance to use the green screen themselves and to learn the mechanics behind the scenes of how a meteorologist presents a live television report. It may look simple, but it is harder to do than you think.
Since you have your back to the green screen, it’s almost like a mirror. Anything on the screen that is to the right, you point at with your left hand. So, it essentially makes everything seem backward. But, when you have worked in the broadcasting field for almost five years like Ramel Carpenter has, you should be able to present a smooth, professional weather forecast for a television audience as he does.
So overall, taking a trip to WWAY was an entertaining and educational opportunity that gave students insight into the true world of news.
