We Don't Do Video. We Do Television': Indiana's Jeffersonville High School Raises the Bar for Live Varsity Sports Production A new Sprinter van complements robust control room supporting live broadcasts By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, March 12, 2021 - 8:57 am
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In an era when live-production and distribution technology has become ubiquitous and more accessible than ever, virtually anyone can produce a live broadcast. It takes a special level of commitment, however, to be truly great at it.
The emergence of in-house teams for live and post video-production has been well-documented across the collegiate landscape. Now stand-out video programs are popping up across the country at even the high school level.
Jeffersonville High School's WJHI puts students at every position of live sports productions: (from left) Alec Zabel, Julia Hoyer, Nathaniel Gardner, and Justin Haas produce a Red Devils basketball game. (All photos courtesy Jeffersonville High School)
One of those is the eye-popping program at Jeffersonville High School in Indiana.
Over the past five years, WJHI, as the program calls itself, has fine-tuned its ability to produce live coverage of the school's athletics programs and established itself as an elite destination for students seeking a taste of life behind the scenes in live television production.
With a full-fledged control room, a talented crop of students, and a recently acquired Sprinter van for onsite production, WJHI demonstrates how success in live sports video - and access to opportunities in the field - is increasingly available for younger folks.
We don't do video. We do television, says Jeffersonville High School teacher and WJHI Director Tim Dench. That helps us stand out. Multiple cameras, replay, graphics: I think you are going to see more superintendents across the state and across the country looking at that.
A Critical Connection WJHI has a very simple slogan: Radio/TV by the students, for the community.
The core value of civic duty has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many athletic events across the country have been forbidden to host spectators in the stands.
Through WJHI, Red Devils sports events can be seen live on a local cable channel, on closed-circuit television at various points on the high school's campus, and streaming on the IHSAA Champions Network (which is run by the state's high school athletics association) and can be heard streamed through the school's FM radio station. Every live broadcast is available in some form for free.
WJHI students produce live broadcasts from a robust control room in Jeffersonville High School: (back row, from left) Karah Lambus, Lily Fondrisi; (front row, from left) Ashton Davis, Jasmine Fondrisi
We are more important than ever, says Dench, noting that WJHI has produced live coverage of every single event that has taken place in the school's gym since August. People literally can't get into the building to watch sports, and, without us, they couldn't see anything. We are becoming the valuable tool for the community that we thought we would be when we started this station.
The wide array of distribution platforms is a huge benefit for the students on the productions. With more Red Devils athletics events broadcast, more crew members have live shows to produce.
I don't see a world after COVID where everything is not streamed, says WJHI Sports Director Clay Ables, who also works locally as a freelance on-air broadcaster. In our area, I don't know anybody who's not streaming any sport. It's getting that way in high schools, too. This opens up a lot of opportunities for students.
Staying committed to serving the people of Jeffersonville is easy when the community is supportive of the program. With COVID restrictions, students couldn't go out to solicit local businesses for advertising revenue, which funds much of the day-day to operations of WJHI. Through local resources, individuals & businesses, WJHI received nearly $20,000 in donations in a single day.
We appreciate so much what the community has done for us, says Dench.
Growth Despite Restrictions In this academic year, WJHI is staffed by about 75 students, who have been able to remain active thanks to COVID-related health and safety processes and protocols.
Students get the opportunity to rotate and gain experience in every part of a production: running cameras, directing at the front bench, running graphics or replay, even announcing on-air.
Students have been able to safely run cameras during the pandemic. Here, Caroline Shepherd (left) and Kirstin Elder shoot a basketball game.
Distancing, cleaning, and aggressive rotation of students have helped keep WJHI moving during the pandemic. Training students and keeping them engaged has been a challenge met by the faculty, and regular rotation has allowed freshmen and sophomores the chance to get far more reps than they would have in normal circumstances.
The creativity hasn't been the tough part; it's the scheduling, says Ables. There are so many revisions with COVID safety, snow, whatever it may be. Thankfully, the school has been very giving in that we haven't had to change our productions too much. The toughest part is simply staying on schedule. The kids need a rhythm and to be there consistently to learn.
WJHI training has also adapted to the pandemic by integrating the changes seen in the current sports-broadcasting industry. For example, student on-air announcers are starting to be taught how to call games off a TV screen in the WJHI studios, reflecting the current trend of calling games in-studio.
Our kids have a lot of experience that nobody else has, notes Dench.
Two of WJHI's top on-air
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We Don't Do Video. We Do Television': Indiana's Jeffersonville High School Raises the Bar for Live Varsity Sports Production A new Sprinter van complements robust control room supporting live broadcasts By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
