23-04-2025
High school students put broadcast skills to the test at statewide competition in Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Students from across Alabama met up at the University of South Alabama on Tuesday morning for the Alabama State Leadership and Skills Conference, putting their broadcast news skills to the test.
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From the classroom to the control room, these students are got a taste of what it's like to be in a real broadcast newsroom.
'My role was director slash technical director. I was like swapping cameras, I was running graphics, B-roll, stuff like that, keeping the whole technical side of the show together,' Owen Bentrup, a junior at Pelham High School, said.
Each team had only 90 minutes to brainstorm, write scripts and edit a full newscast before it was time for the live show.
But this is more than just a competition. For many students, it's a chance to see what a future in journalism might actually look like.
'Being here in an actual production studio besides our own at school really just inspired me to go forward in this type of career,' MaKenzie Lewis, a junior at PHS, said.
But beyond the cameras and control rooms, students have the opportunity to walk away with what might be one of the greatest skills of all — confidence.
'It's really like kind of surreal, honestly,' Lewis said. 'It really kind of opened up confidence in me and I really just enjoyed it.'
'I got to direct a really nice show. It was a really smooth show,' Bentrup said. 'My team did absolutely amazing. I'm really thankful for my team for just really locking in today and going crazy.'
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The competition's winners will be announced on Wednesday.
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