Students taking journalism classes at Rock Ridge put their skills to the test each Friday morning during the Rock Ridge Rundown.

It’s a 10 minute live broadcast of news, weather, and sports.

“It’s really fun to put on a live show so people can see what’s going on,” shared Kaeden Mavec, a junior. He enjoys tech directing behind the scenes.

During the week, students put together the stories and build the show. All of them have to learn all the roles, both behind the camera and in front.

Neko Kozar was the only one who wanted to learn how to do the weather. But he also enjoys camera work too.

Malena Peterson is one of the anchors. “Kids see me in the hallway and say, hey you’re the girl from the Rock Ridge Rundown. And one time in Target, someone recognized me. That was pretty cool,” she told us.

Mason Kroll, a senior who was the technical director on this Friday, shared, “I love live production. It’s never boring. It’s a hands-on experience, and you learn to trouble shoot and work as a team. Then we get to show the whole school, so it’s pretty cool.”

This all started during the pandemic, as a way to connect the students and the community. When the new Rock Ridge High School was being built, they made sure there was a broadcast studio space.

They keep getting smoother.

“It’s fun seeing the improvements,” shared Quaid Peterson, another senior who enjoys the technical side. “I like seeing how I helped to fix things.”

This Friday, after the show, students packed up the gear to get ready to broadcast the basketball game from the U.S. Steel gym. They typically do two events each week.

“They are rolling with at least three to five different camera angles, and including virtual score bugs that do real time clocks and penalties and scores. We are starting to dabble in the play by play,” Bill Bryson said. He’s the Technical Director for Rock Ridge. “I think the kids are doing a really good job putting on a professional product.”

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