S. Elgin students prepping for future in broadcasting

Beacon Academy at South Elgin High School prepares students for a future in broadcast journalism.

That means they get involved in news, sports and other creative projects. The program offers hands-on, industry-specific training, state-of-the art technology, and an opportunity to get a head start on higher education.

Their latest project is covering the 2014 Hinkle Holiday Basketball Classic at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. The tournament started Saturday, continued Monday and today, and will resume the day after Christmas, culminating with the championship final on Saturday.

"We have 10 crew members working five-hour shifts throughout the entire tournament all the way up to the finals." said Tom Bozikis, media teacher at the Beacon Academy. "It's giving our students some actual fieldwork experience in a real-life situation."

That's fine with junior Stacy Bellack.

"I like it because I'm getting a lot of experience, I want to study this in college, I want to major in broadcast journalism, and I think this will really help me getting experience in camera work and a perspective of the field," she said.

"It's a great way to learn about all the technical stuff that actually goes into broadcasting a basketball game," added junior Brandon Ramos. "I could be doing camera work over there, and then the next game I could be announcing it on the radio or TV, you really get a lot of experience out of it and it helps out a lot."

Getting service hour credit motivates sophomore Gretchen Metzger. "We have to do eight service hours a year," she said. "A lot of us come to the basketball tournament each year because it gives us a lot of service hours."

Former Beacon Academy and current Western Illinois University student Mario Calero is helping out as an executive director.

"I started out just like these kids did when the program first began. It was in its second year when I was a freshman at the Beacon Academy. With what I was taught at Beacon, I was able to get some freelance work and get a part-time job at a station downstate in Quincy, Illinois." Calero said. "Hopefully, I could give these students some perspective and show them the path they should take if they want to end up with a job in this profession."