MHS TV production class to broadcast first live stream at February's Hamburg vs. Magnolia basketball games

The Magnolia High School Fundamentals of Television Production class is planning its first live stream broadcast of the year. The launch event covered will be Magnolia's home basketball games against Hamburg at Panther Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The girls and boys basketball match-ups will be streamed live through the Magnolia School District Facebook account beginning at 5:30 pm.

Arkansas Class 4A State Basketball tournament games were streamed some Magnolia games live on the district's Facebook page in 2018 as Panther Arena hosted the event, but the broadcasts were not in high definition and the streams did not feature graphics.

The broadcast crew for the upcoming Magnolia-Hamburg games will include Malaya Wincher as technical director, Shakayla Sears-Frazier as graphics director, Darrell Jones as audio technician, and camera operators Tania Beasley, Kah’Mijah Taylor, Dalton Claiborne and Antavion Garner.

The Fundamentals of Television Production class is a career and technical one-credit course that is offered at MHS' campus. The course is a new offering for students and is designed to give practical knowledge in preparation for the pursuit of a career in television. For students that wish to continue in this field of study, MHS will also offer an intermediate and advanced course option. Currently there are 65 students enrolled in the class.

In the class, students learn how to properly use a professional studio and field camera, edit videos using editing software, and create meaningful stories through the use of cinematography and audio engineering. The lessons all come together into a TV show production that can be broadcast live using multiple cameras, graphics and audio, all at once.

Much of the equipment and supplies for the course were obtained through a Perkins grant. Some of the equipment purchased include 4K-ready studio and field cameras, a 4K DSLR cinema camera, a Tricaster production unit, and various other equipment for audio, lighting, green screen and more. In the near future, the class plans to have a news broadcast with stories from Magnolia School District students highlighting the happenings and events around Magnolia High School and the surrounding city. This will include high school news, student issue stories, profiles, interactive segments and local news.

Students also have the opportunity to travel off-campus to cover local stories that affect Magnolia residents and the class will serve as a provider of high school related news and sports via streaming newscasts and sporting events online.