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Rookies Take Over
The 175th edition of "HTV Magazine" features nine segments produced by first-time reporters and videographers. The show was turned over to the "rookies" as a way for them to try out for next year's HTV staff. It's become a tradition, and a challenge. "We know they are going to have a difficult time overcoming obstacles they don't see coming. But that's part of the test, to see if they kind of persevere and get the job done," said HTV adviser Dave Davis. Since the late 90s, Davis said he had made it a regular practice to let the Broadcast Journalism I students produce the show.	"This is the best way to see what I have coming up. I work with them all year, but it's different when they are actually producing a complete news story to share with others," said Davis. The stories on the program cover a wide range of topics, including profanity at school, breakfast habits, the return of vintage fashions and music, the Ronald McDonald House, and other segments with a teen audience in mind. Unlike other "HTV Magazine" programs, this one will not air outside Hillcrest. The next regular edition of HTV will be on the Ozarks CW in early March. Davis was off for	two weeks in January, and that pushed back the programming schedule. "I'm happy to be back, and we're getting back in the groove," said Davis. He says the new staffs of "HTV Magazine" and "The Friday Show" will be posted sometime near the end of the month. Those staffs will take over the two programs in May as they gear up for the 2010-2011 school year. Top|Home

Classes Combine Efforts for TFS
From now until the end of the school year "The Friday Show" will be produced by students in Broadcast I and Broadcast II. "We have added the productions by the first-year students to the mix. They are ready to contribute, and have been doing a great job," said adviser Dave Davis The final decisions about what makes it onto the show still rest with the Broadcast II students on the actual staff of TFS. But the show will be a constant mix of content in the weeks ahead. "For example, last week, we had six segments, three from 1st block, three from 4th block. It will only allow kids to take	more time to polish off their features," Davis said. Line producer Brittney Clay said, "Doing a new show every Friday is tough because so many of us are involved in a lot of activities. It's nice to have the kids in Broadcast I adding their features." Even the staff of "HTV Magazine" joined the fun by producing the January 29 edition. "It was fun to just do some humorous things, and to not take ourselves seriously," said senior Chelsey Williamson. Teachers have enjoyed the variety on the show lately, even when the humor	sometimes misses the mark. As one faculty member joked, "Sometimes I feel dumber after watching TFS. But actually, it is pretty funny and gives us all a laugh at the end of the week." The spring, viewers can watch for the annual "Music Video Challenge," which will feature videos produced by all three Broadcast classes, with final judging done by members of the viewing audience. Top|Home

Available for Purchase
The stuff reporter Olivia Tinkler held in the palm of her hand got some second looks when she asked students and teachers what it looked like. "Weed." "Pot." "Marijuana." But the substance she was showing was perfectly legal, if not perfectly safe. It is called "K-2" and it is sold as an incense. Now young people are using it to get high. I think a lot of them are using it as an alternative to weed," said a 19-year-old who says he's tried it, as well as marijuana. "You can smoke it right in front of a cop and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it."	There are four different kinds of K-2, and the package states it is not for human consumption. That has not kept kids from using it. That is a concern for people like Patty Moore, a Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist, who recalled visiting with a student who has smoked K-2 recently. "He said he tried and and became very ill, and was never going near that stuff again," said Moore. "He really got very sick and thought he was going to die. For Moore, it's another example of teens thinking they are invincible and K-2 is simply too much of an unknown. She said, "No testing has been done on it.	It's a synthetic chemical compound, and you're just taking a huge risk to try it." Tinkler says K-2 costs about the same as marijuana, and it has been banned in some foreign countries, but not in the United States. She found it for sale at four different locations in Springfield. Top|Home

Taking Action
A deadly accident in October near Willard High School has inspired students there to take action. Highway 160 leading into Willard has been the site of numerous accidents and fatalities in the past, and when three teens died on the road last fall, student leaders decided to turn that tragedy into change. Reporter Ali Randolph and Videographer Kelsi Moos cover the story for the next "HTV Magazine." "People have been trying to get this (Highway 160) to four lanes for 20 years. Why can't we be the ones to change it?" said Charlie Bird, one of the WHS StuCo leaders helping with the petition drive.	Signatures are being collected at basketball games and school events. The teens are planning to speak to the Missouri Department of Transportation about the need to widen 160. The students involved with the petition effort realize changing the highway from two lanes to four will take time. "It's looking more to help our families in the future, just to make it so they can make it safely to work or home," said Kearsten Jones, also a StuCo member. The day the school lost three students, the entire WHS student body felt the impact, which eventually led to the current effort to spark a change.	"I didn't know them personally, but it still effects you because they were a part of our school, so you can see how it changed people and how it effected the whole school," said Jones. Over 13,000 vehicles travel Highway 160, and the peak hours are just before and after school. The congestion, and risk, would be reduced, according to Bird, if the road is changed to four lanes soon. Top|Home

Learning by Doing
Broadcast I students at Hillcrest are moving from the basics to the complex. That means the shooting skills learned during first quarter are now being used to create complete, edited productions to share with the HHS student body. As the semester winds down, the 27 first-year students are working in pairs to produce segments for "The Friday Show" and for the Hillcrest website. Those are all being produced on campus. Adviser Dave Davis says he likes the results so far. "I have to be honest, this class has tons	of potential. I think several of them are already at a higher level than most of our beginners in the past. Their biggest test is coming up soon," said Davis. That "test" is the January edition of "HTV Magazine." The class will take over for the regular HTV staff, and this will be like a tryout for next year. "I look at how they handle the pressure of producing something that airs on the local CW, and I really look at their storytelling and if they have a passion for it," Davis said. Sometime in March he will choose the new HTV staff and the new staff of	"The Friday Show." "We'll know after January whose skills will match up with which show the best," explained the veteran adviser, who says the two advanced staffs each have around 18 members most years. One way to ensure you make neither staff? "Miss a deadline. That's pretty fatal," said Davis. Top|Home