At BHS, there’s an assortment of classes that you can choose to take. But for Alina Keppler, there’s only one that stands out: BHS–TV.
Alina Keppler, a student who has been a member of BHS–TV for around a year, describes the environment of BHS–TV as one of creativity and connection, a break from the chaos and stress that she may experience in her other classes.
“I feel like in a lot of other classes, there’s always like these people that I don’t want to talk to,” Keppler said. “But not [with] the people in the BHS–TV. Like the people in that class, I could talk to any of them, and they wouldn’t think I’m weird.”
High school can be challenging for many students, but BHS–TV provides a break from that stress. Being in a space where friendships have a chance to flourish allows the students of BHS–TV to take a deep breath, incubating an ability to balance both fun and work in one class period.
“It’s the only class that I can really feel enjoyment out of and enjoy going to and seeing the teachers and the people there, because other classes, they’re fine. I don’t mind the other ones, but BHS–TV is the only one where I feel like I like the class and the people,” Keppler said.
Adam Good, the teacher sponsor of BHS-TV and a former worker at Fox 59, describes the class as a family, a band of people that both care for each other while also expecting each other to put in the work, a system that guarantees that the group succeeds.
“BHS–TV is, it’s kind of like a family. And I tell the students that too, because we spend so much time together,” Good said. “So as with most families, a lot of times we get along really well, and we have a lot of fun. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we’ll argue, we’ll have disagreements, but we try to all kind of keep everything in house, and at the end of the day, work really hard and be really proud of everything we’re doing.”
BHS–TV is mainly a student-led class. Students of BHS–TV brainstorm, plan out their scripts and interview those they feel would be an interesting addition to their story or topic.
“I like the creative freedom of BHS-TV,” Keppler said. “People don’t realize that we do practically all the stuff. We direct the episodes. We write the opens. We write our news stories. We do everything for the new stories.”
Keppler has attained a reputation for being a very creative and involved member of BHS-TV, known for her work ethic along with her innate ability to bring her ideas to fruition.
“Alina is a very, very creative person. She has great ideas. She also has great follow through. Not all high schoolers have great follow through. So she comes up with ideas, and she’s able to actually get them executed, whether that’s within a small group or at times, she just does stuff on her own,” Good said.
Keppler, in her quest to become a more well-rounded member of BHS-TV has taken it upon herself to practice different editing and camera techniques, showing off her determination to support the other students of BHS-TV. She’s also growing as a student and a person.
“She’s trying different editing and camera techniques and really becoming a lot more well-rounded. So I would say that’s the thing that’s really impressed me about her,” Good said. “She’s just growing not only as a student, but as a person.”
BHS-TV is more than just a class to Keppler. It’s a place where students can express themselves, learn new skills and build lasting friendships.
“I feel like I fit in there with people, and I enjoy the broadcasting, films and news, journalism aspects of it that I don’t feel like I get in any other class,” Keppler said.
