Santiago’s SharkTV is Santiago High School’s YouTube channel, where students post episodes about our school and events that have happened or will happen in the future. It is one of the ways our school connects to the students and makes the experience more fun. On Santiago Shark TV, you can see information about upcoming events, interviews with students and teachers, and other entertainment. The student-led SharkTVepisodes are often times silly and fun. Logically, if the students lead Shark TV, the students on our campus are supposed to enjoy it, but are they? It is important to know students’ objectives on things, so I decided to interview Mr. Gauss, who is the teacher for TV production about Shark TV, and a few students to get their opinions. 

What is Shark TV?

“Shark TV is a biweekly program that creates content that reflects the school in a positive way.”

Are there any future changes in store for Shark TV?

“We have a lot of resources that are coming online with the studio. It’s been a long process, but we will see a transformation in the TV studio so that we’re more of a live-to-tape video production instead of recording, editing, and putting out episodes. The goal is to be able to do it live. There are probably going to be changes in how they will redo the studio; they’re going to put lights in and a cyclorama. There should be some cool stuff.”

When you say you wanted to run the Shark TV live, what do you mean exactly?

“The way that we run TV production, instead of just recording, editing, and putting it out, it should be done in the way where the whole thing is going to be live, and we queue up the segments so that it’s live-to-tape, which is a little bit different way of doing it.”

If a student wants to join the crew of Shark TV, how can they do it?

“You have to have shown exemplary work in video production and receive a B or above, so not even C students are allowed. You have to be a good student and a self-starter. A recommendation from another staff member is always useful.”

What are the plans for the future of TV production?

“The future of this program is to articulate these classes with RCC so that you can get college credit. There aren’t any video classes in the district where you can receive credit. The studio is to be outfitted and completed. I also want to eventually offer certifications through this program, where you can be certified in industry-standard—for example, programs like Avid Media Composer. I would even like to be able to offer a certificate in Final Cut Pro and Pro Tools. That’s something I’ve been working on for three years now.”

What are the benefits of being in TV or video production?

“The benefit of being in television and video production is the access to industry-standard gear. If you are interested in a career in the film or television industry, you get a pretty high caliber of access. We have some high-end cameras. Just getting access to the gear, I think, is one of the big benefits. It also fulfills your art requirement. You’ll get a pathway completion medal if you do three years in a CTE pathway.”

How do you make Shark TV episodes? 

“A lot of it is student-led. We get requests from admin on things they would like to see, and we try to cover as much of the school as possible. It truly is a student-led broadcast. They choose the topics.”

Mr. Gauss gave us a lot of essential and interesting information, but now is the time for the interviews with the students:

“My opinion on Shark T.V. episodes is that they are alright. They seem fun and energetic. I wish they should post more videos.” (Emmeline G.)

“In my opinion, Shark T.V. is one of the highlights of my day sometimes. Whenever they interview a different teacher, the puns are always so bad but funny because of how bad they are. Shark T.V. is awesome, and I love the productions they make. I can’t wait to see more.” (Joshua L.)

“I think Shark T.V. is a great program that helps promote our school and being a SHARK. The interviews help us get to know our schools’ diverse types of classes, teachers, and students and encourage us to get involved with programs and share their thoughts and opinions about Santiago.” (Kimmy L.) 

Sounds like some changes are coming to Shark T.V.  Students seem to enjoy it.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of Shark T.V. in the future.