Media class to offer live stream of State Fair rodeo

PALMER — Rodeo Alaska champions will be in the Valley spotlight this weekend, thanks in part to local high school students.

For the second year in a row, Colony High School teacher Brian Mead’s media students have an opportunity to showcase one of the Alaska State Fair’s big acts, as well as their own technological skills, by conducting a live stream of the Rodeo Alaska Champions Tour Finals on Sept. 5 and 6.

“It’s a very big deal,” said Rodeo Alaska owner Frank Koloski, of the live stream, which will begin at 2 p.m. each day. “It’s gonna be a blessing to have that type of exposure.”

Koloski said he and his business partner Stephen Primera typically host this particular event at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, but due to construction in the area needed to find a new location. The fair, Koloski said, was generous to place their act front and center at the RAM Trucks Grandstand, and on the state fair website, with the help of Mead’s media students. (Other rodeo events previously held in the France Equestrian Center also will be featured in the Grandstand in place of the usual car racing events, Mead said.)

Several returning students from the communications Career and Technology Education path at Colony conducted a live stream of the Annual Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off last year, under direction from Denali Media (owner of KTVA CBS Anchorage, owned by GCI). It was that event, students told him, that gained students valuable work experience.

“Kids got hired after that,” Mead said.

Will Sandidge, a board member for Radio Free Palmer and the only fourth-year student in Colony’s media program, was one who found a gig with Denali Media for the Great Alaska Shootout last year, along with Matt Sandinsky. Suddenly the boys were paid professionals. Even though they were just rolling cable, Sandidige said it was gratifying to know people beyond school grounds recognized their potential.

“At school people just see some kids who are doing stuff for class,” Sandidge said. “If we’re outside actively doing things in the community … it kinda shows that we’re not just high school students with thousands of dollars worth of equipment. We’re actually learning how to do this and we are doing it.”

For student Tucker Atkin, just the fair’s faith in him was enough to boost his confidence in he and his classmates’ skills.

“They trusted us to film something that meant so much to them,” he said.

And with that came “a lot more pressure,” said student Tim Farring. “There’s a lot more people counting on us,” at the fair, he said.

But what happened at school before the 2014 cabbage weigh-off may have been what gave the fair and Denali Media the confidence to accept Mead’s endorsement of the students in the first place (though his years of working for the fair’s marketing department didn’t hurt, either).

The students’ last big project was a live feed for the 2014 high school regional volleyball tournament. Parents and fans of players from teams around the state from places like Juneau, Kenai and Kodiak were online watching from afar. Students offered a play-by-play, and by the final match between Palmer and Kodiak, word had gotten out. It seemed like all of Kodiak – if not all of Southcentral and Southeast – was watching online.

“They were just like, going gangbusters over watching this stream,” Mead said.

It wasn’t just about the numbers, however. While students like Michael Everett say the media class at Colony is “the best thing about school” because it is fun and personally gratifying, Mead says it’s also about developing necessary skills to thrive in a high-tech world.

“Digital literacy is very important … to communicate your message effectively,” he said. “Everybody has a camera in their pocket now on their phone, but not everyone can get a good shot or edit clips together.”

But the opportunities for growth in these areas are expanding. Wasilla High School now has a fledgling media program under teacher John Notestine, and Palmer, too, has a growing communications curriculum, according to Mat-Su Borough School District Public Information Officer Catherine Esary. Mead said he hopes the three schools can work together to produce something like “Mat-Su TV” in the vein of the Mat-Su Gazette, which prints stories written by students from various Mat-Su high schools. He also hopes for more involvement by media students at schools besides Colony with Radio Free Palmer’s Teen Talk, a student-led radio show which airs every Friday at 9 p.m.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.