KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Students at Roane County High School have a unique chance to develop skills that may not be available to students at most other East Tennessee schools. The school provides students with the equipment and lessons they need to start making their own on-air content.
Students also get to create shows, podcasts and films under the tutelage of a Knoxville filmmaking legend — Keith McDaniel. It's been around 50 years since he graduated from Roane County High School.
"When I came in here to start this program — one, there was no program," he said. "The skills that I teach are those job skills. Like, how to meet a deadline, how to work together in a team, how to take little bits of information and put it together and present it in a way that it's easily understandable."
He leads the school's new Audio-Visual Class, giving students professional-level equipment to create a variety of content. They can record podcasts, make films and even report news through a broadcast news setup.
"It's truly helpful to have such a wonderful teacher like him that has been in the shoes of a director and dealing with all this equipment," said Brody Kolski, a sophomore in the class.
"It gives you an opportunity to learn and get hands-on experience. So, you're not just sitting in a classroom, which I think is great," Rebecca Crawley, a senior in the class.
The class also gives students a chance to learn about the media industry as a whole. They have a chance to explore the different pathways available in it, and refine the ideas they may one day take into the workforce.
"I think we're very lucky here at Roane County High School because we get to have this," said Crawley. "It was amazing to see that our teacher was directing that and making that happen. So, that gave me hope that maybe I can be like that. Maybe I can do stuff like that because it's cool."
Students said so far they have made podcasts and short films. They said the films were shown at the Princess Theater in Harriman.