Garfield/Palouse students tour KHQ-TV studio

From left to right, Cole Sanderson, Mitch Dymkoski, Matt Holbrook, Hunter Woltering, Kevin Knauff, Lexi Rodriquez, Zach Thompson, Selena Wagner, Gabe Cocking, Caitlyn Gearhart and Miriam Rodriguez as they pose at the KHQ television studio in Spokane. The students toured the station and observed a broadcast of the news. They also met two of the station’s news anchors.

The 11 members of the Audio-Visual Communi-cations class at Garfield-Palouse High School spent Friday evening, Nov. 15, at KHQ Television in Spokane.

The students were given an in-depth tour of the facilities before the live telecast of the evening news and were given the opportunity to talk with the technical staff while they set the computer-controlled commercials for the five TV stations that KHQ oversees.

During the 5 p.m. news broadcast, students went on the set to observe news anchors Dan Kleckner and Stephanie Vigil, weather personality Leslie Lowe and sports anchor Michelle Dapper complete their segments of the broadcast. They later observed the control room as the producer and support technicians mixed the audio/video, cued the anchors and inserted the live off-site reports into the newscast.

Later, the KHQ staff took the time to share their educational backgrounds, the career options in news production, and the pros and cons they have experienced working in a newsroom environment.

“One of the surprising aspects of the tour was the total number of people involved in producing a newscast,” said Dennis Griner, audio/visual instructor for Gar-Pal High School. The students estimated that nearly 30 people were involved in the creation of the 30-minute newscast.

“The trip was a highly successful experience as students came away with a better understanding of the news industry,” Griner said.