Graham Students Learn Sports Productions at KMVT-15

Not all kids will grow up to be professional athletes, but many can grow up to be sports broadcasters.

That's what 20 Graham Middle School (GMS) students have begun to learn at KMVT-15 since a new program Mountain View Youth Productions kicked off in January. Not only will these students shoot middle school sports, but in doing so they'll learn video production.

"At KMVT-15 our general purpose is to provide an outlet for individuals to have a voice and to educate our younger audiences," said Shelley Wolfe, executive director of the non-profit, local community media center serving Mountain View, Los Altos and Cupertino since 1982.

Through support from the Google Community Grant Fund of Tides Foundation, KMVT-15 partnered with GMS to teach them how to shoot and produce sports, though Wolfe hopes to cover to other areas. Also depending on funding Mountain View Youth Productions could expand to other schools, like Crittenden Middle School, which has already shown interest.

Between now and the end of the school year, KMVT-15 will send two staff members and a volunter to GMS afterschool twice a week to work with the students. All students were invited to participate and the enrollment remains open.

"We are thrilled to see a diverse class that's taking advantage of this afterschool program," Wolfe said.

Mountain View Youth Productions continues KMVT-15 primary focus to attract youths and work with kids, some as young as 8 years old, who've participated in their summer camps and other afterschool programs.

"When the kids come in here they have a lot of fun using the equipment and control room," she said. 

The kids get to take advantage of KMVT-15 large 900 square foot studio and soundstage. In addition to the studio kids learn how to work the control room. If additional space is needed there is green room and editing rooms too. There's even a master control room, which controls the feed to Los Altos and Cupertino. Wolfe says the kids are taught to use everything.

"When the kids come into KMVT-15 studio, they are in charge," she said.

For the Mountain View Youth Productions program, the Graham students broadcast and produce videos that then make it onto cable television. This collaboration encourages KMVT-15 to expand to multiple schools.

Currently, KMVT-15 only hosts the Graham students, but Wolfe wants more youths to come into KMVT-15 and participate in after school activity and camps, and the station does go to schools, talks to parents, club scouts and neighborhood associations to attract more kids. 

But to make it all possible, Wolfe and her staff must fundraise and in addition to fundraising, KMVT-15 receives funding from the state's cable television franchise tax board since it is a non-profit organization and local governments. KMVT-15 has a small staff and they depend on their army of 40-50 volunteers, some include high shcool students who started off in their video camps.

"It is really rewarding," Wolfe said. "We have had our kids grow and make careers out of broadcasting and producing sports."

Wolfe said that the kids have a great learning experience particularly when it comes to working with Bobby Chastain.

The high school sports producer and video camp instructor for the past six years, Chastain takes all the necessary equipment with him in his 30-foot mobile production truck to high school sports games and other community events.  

For him the most exciting part about teaching camp is, of course, being with the kids.

Chastain would like more youths to come in and give KMVT-15 an opportunity to work with them.

He'll continue to work with Wolfe this Spring to fundraise so they can have a summer and winter youth camps. There is space for a lot of kids. "We receive a group of kids every week," he said.

This certainly tells the community of Mountain View and the associated cities, that there is a great opportunity available for kids, Chastain explained.

Additional reporting by Claudia Cruz.

This article was produced through a collaboration of PatchU and the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at San Jose State University. PatchU is a Patch Media initiative to build strong relationships with colleges and universities across the country. The mission of PatchU is to connect students and faculty to opportunities at Patch.  

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