[ot-caption title=”Ryan Felberbaum (left), Alex Edep, Seth Kelman, and Justin Danzansky (right) smile with their award for second place film. (via Ms. Alexanderson)”]

It is twenty minutes after closing ceremonies. Pine Crest School has won eight total awards, including five for the high school. We sit in a restaurant inside the hotel in Atlanta staring at each other with a buzzing excitement, unable to wipe the smiles from our faces.

The phase of delirious laughter follows shortly after, as our STN group chat is abuzz with hilarious old STN pictures. A picture of the PC crew’s first STN in Dallas makes an appearance…and a few from Mr. Dave Burgess’s glory days in the news industry.

On March 9, 2016, Pine Crest first touched down in Atlanta, Georgia for an annual convention known as STN, or Students Television Network. Each year the convention is located in a different state, but one thing that stays the same is the reunion of over 2,600 students and teachers with a passion for film and broadcast journalism.

The first day of the convention is known as Crazy 8’s. Both the film and broadcast teams get eight hours to produce content in their area of competition. The broadcast team was tasked with creating a show with the theme “science and technology.” The film was assigned the title “True Measure” and a ruler as a prop. As junior cinematographer Justin Danzansky points out, “It’s a crazy contest. Eight hours to make a short film is insane. It’s a very prestigious award because there are so many schools here.” Both teams finished on time and are extraordinarily proud of the content they produced. Senior broadcast producer Hunter Fields explains, “I think that everyone individually in their own pieces maximized their potential given the circumstances. The practice day was a little rough and this was a significant change.”

The PCTV crew is so special because it is not only their individual accomplishments that make them proud, but also those of their peers. As senior Roxy Ackerman says, “We’ve never placed in Crazy 8’s before. And even though I wasn’t a part of the film team, I’m just so proud of them and so happy!”

The next two days of the convention are filled with breakout sessions and individual competitions. Junior Zach Berman and Chris Marzuca competed in “Lead Story” where they had to create a package about the Russian exchange students visiting STN. After coming first place, Berman commented, ““I feel amazing. It’s so good to see my progression throughout my three years of high school. I think this convention is so special because it brings together people with the same passion. You work with other kids to make your own stuff better.”

Another way to improve is by attending the breakout sessions lead by industry professionals. Their openness to help students grow as filmmakers and journalists contributes to the positive experience of the convention. Freshman Ross Bauman was extremely excited about the sessions he attended.  He added, “It’s really great to get to network and talk to real industry professionals and ask questions. It’s a great opportunity to sort of step out of the high school bubble we’re in and get real world experience.”

Mr. Burgess smiles proudly at the convention’s close, stating, “It’s unbelievable we came away with eight awards. That’s the highest we’ve ever come away with. It just shows that the team is working really hard to prepare and to better themselves, and that they’re dedicated to their craft. All their hard work is paying off.” This would not have been possible without the help of our amazing chaperones Ms. Alexanderson, Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Rashbaum, Mrs. Shemansky, Mrs. Porter, Mr. and Mrs. Danzansky, Mrs. Kahan, Mr. Ricci, and Mr. Burgess.

So it is now about thirty minutes after the closing ceremonies. No one is really talking. The smiles remain on everyone’s faces as we begin to reminisce over the last four incredible days, looking forward to next year’s convention where once again we can be united by a common interest.

A full list of awards:

Lead Story: Chris Marzuca and Zach Berman (first place)

Tell the Story Editing: Scott Shanbom (third place)

High school Breaking News: Alana Udwin, Brian Meller, Jodie Kahan (honorable mention)

High school Music Video: Alex Edep, Audrey Louden, Roxy Ackerman, Ginger Hollander, Rachel Hackman, Austin Fields, Arielle Ghiloni (second place)

High school Crazy 8’s Film: Alex Edep, Justin Danzansky, Seth Kelman, Ryan Felberbaum, Alana Udwin, Jodie Kahan, (second place)

Middle school PSA: Marlie Kahan, Lexie Hackman, Ryan Dudack (Honorable mention)

Middle school Breaking News: Zach Goldstein, Josh Vlessing, Burke Bloom (second place)

Middle school Anchor Team: Taryn Herman and Brooke Greenfield (third place)