I’m adviser Cary Conover, and this is my newsroom…
What is your name?
Cary Conover
What school do you teach at?
Andover High School
What city and state is your school located in?
Andover, Kansas
What different media are produced at the school?
The Bluestreak (newspaper), The Epic (yearbook) and Trojan TV (broadcast)
How many students are involved at the media program at your school?
About 150
Describe your space for us.
We just opened a brand-new building in the fall of 2020. So in addition to preparing for teaching in a pandemic we were getting our building up and running. We’ve got lots of window light and we have easily tripled our space from one large classroom in the old building to a new main lab, a photo studio and another classroom.
What do you think are some of the benefits of the workspace you all have?
Again, just being in a new building was a massive upgrade. We have a large wall that we utilize for critiques and our internet is much faster and more reliable. We have 12 workstations in one classroom (PC) and 25 in another (Mac).
What do your students like most about the workspace you have?
The room is much more minimalistic aesthetically. I’m sure it will take some time to grow into our new space. But I prefer the slimmed-down approach.
What computer programs and/or apps is your staff using on a regular basis for their work?
We use InDesign for newspaper, with a lot of Illustrator and Photoshop. We use Premiere extensively for Broadcast, with some AfterEffects. And for yearbook we are web-based (Jostens Layout Pro) with Photopshop.
What tech equipment are your students using on a daily basis?
We use Canon EOS cameras and Mac Mini workstations.
Aside from the computers and the programs, what are one or two pieces of equipment that you have that you think other programs should have.
DSLR cameras and an assortment of fast lenses. We have a 200mm f/2.8 lens that is great for sports. Also, shooting with the 50mm f/1.8 lenses are good for teaching kids depth of field. We have a Canon 6D Mark II as our main video camera and it’s nice to have a full frame sensor camera, our videos look great.
How is your workspace funded?
We are able to utilize a $25-per-student lab fee that helps fund our cameras. We print our newspaper in house so all we really need to pay for is our paper.
Do you have anything on your wishlist for your space? If so, what do you have and why?
I would like to be able to to offer drawing tablets which may include the best stylus for drawing on android and perhaps a large-format printer.
(This is one of a series of posts where high school newsrooms are showcased. We’d love to showcase your newsroom on the site. To find out how, check out the information here and submit yours today.)
