OCHS's Morning News Show to End With a Bang

The rising stars of Ocean City High School's Morning Wave news broadcast are demanding top dollar, and the only way advisor Greg Wheeldon can save the show is to rob a bank.

Wheeldon and a handful of bald and goateed look-alikes knock off an institution that looks strikingly like City Hall in Ocean City.

That's the setup for The Morning Wave's "finale show," which will be broadcast in the school and on the local public-access television channel in June. It's a spoof on the opening scene of The Dark Knight, the last in the recent series of Batman movies.

Students try to make their end-of-year production bigger, better and funnier every year. But this year, the finale will have special meaning, because it will mark the true end of The Morning Wave.

The weekly news broadcast will be replaced next year by a longer, monthly show. Changes in class schedules forced the show's change in format, according to Wheeldon.

The shows are the work of Ocean City High School's television/media production classes. Wheeldon, a former professional animator, teaches the classes, and Steven Trauger is the technological expert as the school' s audiovisual engineer.

The two men have assembled a studio filled with all the technology to make professional productions, but their most impressive creation appears to be their staff: students experienced in their tasks and working together under real-life pressure.

"Our goal is to get them ready for other work," Wheeldon said. "It's all about responsibility. You have to be on time. You have to meet deadlines."

Wheeldon says a number of graduates already have moved on to work in the field, and the show has received many awards. It's also been regularly featured on schooltube.com, a nationwide collection of the best school videos.

The "finale show" was being filmed Friday at City Hall and included Antimo Ferrilli, Jessica Grossman and Haley O'Neill as Wheeldons. The finale will include a guest appearance by a natural Wheeldon look-alike — Wheeldon's 17-month-old son, Brody.