Last summer the TV media lab at Immaculate Conception Catholic School underwent a complete overhaul with new HD cameras, a TelePrompter for reading the news, and a TriCaster to produce the news. The students took full advantage of their new equipment as they recently were awarded at the state and national level for their achievements in broadcasting the morning announcements to their classmates.
With the help of the Christopher Columbus High School’s award-winning Media Team, the Immaculate Conception Media Team received guidance last summer during a media camp that would not only help them win awards but also prepare them for high school media and beyond.
Columbus Media advisor Omar Delgado said, “The middle school in South Florida that has shown time and time again to be hands down the best whether in public or private school is Immaculate. They have state-of-the-art equipment and have a willingness and desire to learn and become great at broadcast journalism.”
In April, the Florida Scholastic Press Association awarded Immaculate's WICS Celtic News, as they are known, with six awards including “All-Florida” for their show opening, “Best of the Best” for Photo Story, and “Top Middle School News Anchor” for Maximus Ganem.
On May 10, the Media Team was awarded at the national level with two national awards by the Journalism Educational Association. These honors included superior broadcast package (feature story) and superior broadcast package (sports story). These are the highest rated awards in each category. The awards and medals were won by Alyssa Barcelo, Catherine Collazo, Enrique de la Osa, and Maximus Ganem.
“What these kids have done in the past two years is nothing short of extraordinary,” Father Manny Alvarez, Immaculate Conception's pastor said. “Even before they had the new equipment, they were out last year covering the presidential primary here in Florida and even interviewed Senator Marco Rubio at a local rally. They are naturals in front and behind the camera.”
Father Alvarez also praised teacher Tania Busto, the school's media advisor and the help of the Columbus Media Team.
“They've won multiple national championships in Media over at Columbus, and we wanted our students to learn from the best,” said Alvarez. “I couldn't be prouder of our kids.”