Students from the VPC club and the Wildcat TV network traveled to the annual Student Television Network (STN) convention held in Tampa Bay, Florida, from Feb. 27 -March 3.
They competed in different contests with categories ranging from short silent films to music videos, while also having the opportunity to go to different workshops and sessions.
STN is an annual national convention event that focuses on middle and high schoolers who are heavily involved in broadcasting, film, and multimedia – teaching independence and working with others.
“STN is a way for students to experience an intense and authentic competition that mirrors the skills needed in the film and broadcasting industry. Students tend to come out of the experience with a greater understanding of what it takes and how they can improve to become great storytellers,” video production club advisor Mr. Kevin Hufnagl says.
This is year 15 of Dallastown attending STN. In previous years, conventions were held in Long Beach and Tampa Bay, where the Wildcats earned the award of Broadcast Excellence Silver.
This year, the contests and awards were made up of the STN Challenge, 60 Second Horrorfest, Broadcast and Film Excellence, Honor Society, and many more.
Although the final results of the competitions didn’t go as expected for the Wildcats, they did not let that stop them from using it as an experience to learn from for next year.
“Unfortunately, competitions didn’t go as well as we hoped this year. We started off losing our 2nd place streak for broadcasting, then we had many problems when it came to Crazy 8’s. One team had some audio problems, and the other didn’t submit in time. As for our other contests, we still did not place, but we can still learn for our future projects, so we didn’t leave the trip with nothing,” VPC president, Dylan Lee, states.
The video production club stays diligent with their contests, using their experiences to help them with their projects, such as the Wildcat Morning show and the Spring Shorts event. Even with the love of these events and acknowledging their value, a huge part of STN is more than competitions.
“Besides learning about myself, I learned more about other people and the kind of people they are, behind what they show to others. This has been both deeply fulfilling and disappointing at times,” senior Benjamin Rodriguez says.
The convention is beyond their signature events and competitions.
Behind the scenes of students’ hard work, and meeting others from miles away is what brings the Student Television Network together.
