On March 2, Dallastown’s Video Production Club (VPC) won silver in the Broadcast Excellence during the STN 2025 Convention in Tampa, Florida. This was the second year in a row that they won this award. 

VPC departed on Feb. 26 on an overnight drive on a coach bus. Eighteen students and three chaperones took on the long, 18-hour drive, ready to compete at the STN competitions. 

They arrived in St. Augustine, around 11 a.m. on Feb. 27 and explored sites such as the Old City, Lightner Museum, and Castillo San Marcos. Students departed from St. Augustine, drove to Orlando by 4:30 p.m., and checked into the Rosen Inn for the evening, as they had exciting new days to come.

On Feb. 28, Students stopped at Universal Studios for fun. Senior Logan Page recalls the day as enjoyable.

“I remember going on most of the rides, rather than the roller coaster,” Page reminisces. The ride that stood out the most was the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride. “It had tricked us, dropping us into a dark drop and was going extremely fast, but it was fun.”

STN Crazy 8 Day was March 1. The Crazy 8 Vertical Film contest is a team competition where students have 8 hours to create a short film in vertical format.  

The team consisted of 10 students who participated in the Action Short Film.  This 2025 film title was The Clock Is Ticking. Students were challenged to record a dynamic and fast-paced film with a handheld tracking shot and a scene where a student points at another student shouting, “You did it! I saw you!”

Senior Saniyah Grant, one of the participants in the Crazy 8 competition, said filming Crazy 8 was “repetitive.”

“The prompt required me to be pushed down, and when you’re recording, you have to constantly film the same scene to get the right shot, so you can imagine how repetitive it can get when you’re constantly being pushed down,” Grant said.

Sunday, March 2, was the day the club had been waiting for. They had previously submitted a morning show for the Broadcast Excellence award. Junior

Junior Dylan Lee represented Dallastown as an award presenter. 

“It was kind of terrifying because that was the most people at the convention since I started going,” Lee mentioned.

Dallastown placed second for broadcast excellence, bringing home the silver medal for the second year in a row. The win was a highlight for Mr. Kevin Hufnagl, the new Dallastown VPC advisor, who came to Dallastown this year from Elizabethtown. This was his first STN Conference. 

“One of the best moments of the trip was when Dallastown was announced as a recipient for Outstanding Achievement in Daily Live News Show. The relief from the students was palpable. They worked very hard and it was great to see their commitment pay off,” Hufnagl said.

The new adviser was pleased with the students’ work, although they didn’t win any other competitions.

“The students that attended STN were very impressive. I was very proud of their ability to communicate, adapt under pressure. Now I have a reference point for the overall process and what it takes to win. Moving forward, I think we have  a number of areas we can target for improvement to take that next step.” he said.

Through every step of the trip, the club had someone special in mind. This being their first trip without VPC’s former club advisor, Mr. Klinedinst, they knew they wanted to make him proud. 

After losing Klinedinst in a tragic accident over the summer, the students were left heartbroken. They dedicated their hard work this year to him.

He was the first video club teacher at Dallastown. He opened the eyes of many students to video production and was a key inspiration in the VPC’s lives.

“Being able to show the work that I have done and the work that I was taught by someone so inspirational to me made the long journey worth it,” Grant shares. 

Klinedinst’s impact and inspiration for the club members will always be there wherever their next adventure takes them.