The Snowflake High School Broadcast class was given board approval to travel to California March 4-7 to attend training. Students in Denice Westover’s Television and Film class, including (left to right) Leah Flake, Forest Fish, Nicholas Cantor, Fernando Chee, Gianna Diaz, Cymanee Palmer and William Oak, had prepared a two-minute video of previous trips and gave a presentation regarding their trip.

“Teaching is about teaching students to become leaders,” Snowflake High School Broadcast teacher Denice Westover told the school district governing board last week.

Westover and Broadcast class students made a presentation to the board Feb. 12, requesting approval to travel to California March 4-7 to participate in training.

Westover said that SHS and Show Low High School students have formed the White Mountain Youth Productions, which works with iTalk Radio 106.7 and City 4 TV out of Show Low videoing events at the high school, and have earned $1,500 that will go toward paying for the trip.

They had other fundraisers, such as selling T-shirts and garbage bags, and have earned enough money to pay for the trip.

Broadcasting is a Northern Arizona Vocational Institution of Technology (NAVIT) class, and so $1,000 in NAVIT funds was budgeted for the trip, which will cost $6,085 for 12 to 18 students and four chaperones.

The SHS students are getting practical experience with TV, but the history in Warner Brothers and Universal Studies is something they don’t have in rural Arizona.

The students prepared a PowerPoint presentation and a two-minute video of previous trips for the board.

They will take the Warner Brothers VIP Tour and Universal Studios Back Lot Tour on Thursday. On Friday they will spend time at the L.A. Recording School/Film School, Dolby Theatre, Sony Pictures and visit Hollywood Blvd. On Saturday they tour Paramount Studio and return to Snowflake.

The purpose of the trip is for students to address new communication multimedia technologies program stands and have the opportunity to visit first-hand post-secondary career options for digital media, TV and film careers. It also opens the door for post-secondary educational facilities and recruitment.

The governing board unanimously approved the broadcasting class trip.