By Stephanie Alexander
Staff Writer
Eight eyes burn through a computer screen. Four people franticly edit videos, and wait for the last KCBY episode of the school year to finish exporting.
Seniors Jen Olson, Haley Struck, Eric Park and Davis DeLoach are the program directors for the 2012-2013 school year and are approaching the end of their reign over high school journalism.
“KCBY has been like a second family to me,” Olson said.
With a growing amount of staff members every year, ranging from sophomores to seniors, KCBY is the media melting pot of Coppell High School.
“I was really interested in film and drawn to the broadcast journalism aspect of KCBY,” Olson said. “It looked like so much fun and turned out to be a great thing to be part of.”
Olson plans on taking film classes at the University of Texas in Austin, but as of now her major will be finance.
“[KCBY adviser Irma Kennedy] has taught us so much about communication and cooperation, which will help me in any field I choose,” Olson said.
For Struck, her love for broadcasting started before she came to CHS.
“I did multimedia in middle school because I was very tech savvy,” Struck said. “Whenever I watched KCBY for the first time I fell in love with and wanted to be a program director one day.”
Struck will be attending the University of Oklahoma in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication in the fall of 2013.
“In KCBY you meet so many people that you would have never met, and you learn about them,” Struck said. “I learned to be the leader people need rather than want.”
With all Struck has soaked up from her time in KCBY, her ultimate goal is to be a producer at a nightly news show.
With KCBY alumni in the family, Park could not resist but taking on the torch of high school journalism.
“I joined KCBY wanting to film a little, but then I got addicted to its magic,” Park said. “I had so much fun the first year. I just could not get out of it.”
Park also plans on pursing finance at UT Austin, but having film as well for a double major.
“Aside from film, KCBY has taught me how to make meaningful relationships with other people,” Park said.
DeLoach being the fourth director plans on going to Baylor to study journalism and wants to end up in sports journalism.
“I took the intro class freshman year and decided to apply all that I learned to KCBY,” DeLoach said. “It has really taught me values on attitude, deadlines and procrastination.”
Even though these will be some big shoes to fill, next year’s program directors have been chosen and they are anticipating another great year ahead. Juniors Hamin Kim, Kasey Tucker, Natalie Hinson and Regan Sullivan will take on the new leading roles and be the running force of KCBY.
“This particular group of program directors set a whole new standard, in my seven years here, they are the strongest team I’ve had on staff,” Kennedy said. “They have really paved the way for the new directors so next year should be even better.”
