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Bright Future: Alondra CardozaNov 23, 2012 (Valley Morning Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- She had planned to be a chef, but now Alondra Cardoza wants to work in television production. That's quite a leap for the San Benito High School senior, but she took a class in audio-visual production last year that opened a whole new world for her. "Being in that class for me was a complete change," she said. "It just grabbed my attention. It was completely amazing. I learned how to work the cameras and then shoot mini videos, silent movies, music videos. We'd make our own videos to a song." When she learned there was a job opening this year at KSBG as part of the school's Career Technical Education Program's (CTE) Co-op Program, she jumped at the opportunity. KSBG is the school district's television station which is located at Veterans Memorial Academy. She works there from 9 a.m. to noon, learning a variety of skills including reporting, script writing, editing and graphics. "Right now we are working on a package for Red Ribbon Week," said Cardoza, 17, the daughter of Zoila and Miguel Cardoza. Red Ribbon Week took place last month, but the studio is using footage to create the package. "We have to make a story from it so we can put it on the air," she said. School district spokeswoman Celia Longoria said the programs produced at the station are aired on KSBG-TV Channel 17, which is available to San Benito residents who subscribe to Time Warner Cable. The shows, she said, are also uploaded to SchoolTube, a K-12 video community, and aired at San Benito High School through the school's partnership with Channel One News. Creating shows to air keeps Cardoza and the other Co-op students busy in a variety of ways. "Usually we are over here and setting up sets, talking to people on camera, telling them, 'Take this shot,'" she said. She looked at the master control board and put her hand on a lever. "Right here this little lever will dissolve and go into another shot." She pointed to a button. "This will cut into another shot." Although she likes working the control board and the cameras, she sometimes finds herself in front of the camera. "I report sometimes, so I'll use a microphone and stand in front of a camera," she said. On a recent Friday night she was going to record a football game between Lyford and Port Isabel at Bobby Morrow Stadium next to San Benito High School. Depending on how many people from the studio went to work at the game, she could have ended up using a wireless camera. "I will get people behind the bleachers, getting them waving, saying hello, and put them on the scoreboard," she said. This is one of many projects she works on at the station. "We do scoreboard messages; we have a package on a fall festival," she said. They're also working on a package about a farmers market at one of the district's schools. After she finishes working at the television station, she attends classes in the afternoon. During fourth period she takes business and marketing, and fifth period she has government and economics. While working at the studio in the mornings, she's also taking an advanced audio-visual production class. That class is next to the studio. "I wouldn't have been able to be in Co-op if I didn't have the class," she said. She's glad she got the job this year at the station, where she works alongside professionals from whom she learns everything she can. "I have so much fun here, just the working environment, working with the camera. All this stuff is so amazing to me," she said. The tech class last year and the job this year have opened up so many possibilities she's not sure which one to pursue when she attends the University of Texas at San Antonio next year. "I was considering being a journalist," she said. "I also want to work with the cameras. I like working backstage. I like directing a show, like a variety show." She'd also like to be a technical director. ___ (c)2012 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) Visit Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) at www.valleymorningstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |