ST. CLOUD -- Local high school students have been recognized for their hard work in video production.

The Tech Morning Show recently took home several Student Production Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Upper Midwest Foundation. The morning show is in its third year, and Club Advisor Matt Keil says the students take on a variety of different roles.

Everybody does everything because they don't know. If they say oh I just want to run the camera, then the next week they're like well can I do this interview? Yeah, you can do that interview! Everybody can do everything. They all need to know how to edit. They all need to know how to run a camera. They all need to know how to hook everything up.

Started three years ago when the new school was built, the morning show gives students hands-on experience with writing, producing, directing, and editing their own videos which get put together into 4-11 minute episodes. After review, the show gets published to the group’s YouTube channel.

Keil says because the show is pre-recorded rather than live, students from all different backgrounds involved in a variety of other activities can participate.

Students can join anytime during the year. They can leave for other activities and come back. Not everybody makes it through the whole year. Some are in speech, some are in sports, some are in music.

Due to the format of the show, students can choose to do segments that interest them and cover things that they are passionate about. Senior Ruweyda Ali says she did a PSA on the school’s blood drive to address cultural misconceptions.

When I was talking to some of my friends and other people in our school about the blood drive and if they wanted to donate, they were all hesitant about it because we were in the month of Ramadan and they didn't know whether or not they could donate blood. So, I decided to do research on it because I knew you could donate blood, but I didn't know the rules behind it.

Some of the students involved with the morning show say they are interested in pursuing a career or education in a media-related field, while some say they just enjoy doing it as a hobby.

The group was nominated for the Student Production Awards by administration, and submitted 10 clips for consideration among 220 entries from 35 schools in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. From those entries, Tech earned eight nominations and won six awards in the Arts and Entertainment/Cultural Affairs, Music Video, Commercial, Director, Editor, and Photographer categories.

Junior Daniel Cook says the awards have boosted the morale of the students.

It's absolutely been a morale boost because Tech was a new school at this event, and we ended up winning the most awards out of all of the schools that attended.

The students' work advances to the National Student Production Award level where they will compete against winners from other regions. Those winners will be announced this fall.

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