A group of Butler Area High School students interested in exploring broadcast media in the future recently visited Westminster College for a first-hand look into television and radio production.
 
Students participated in an outreach program through their broadcasting classes by traveling to Westminster College and meeting with the School of Communication. The high school students served as Westminster’s first live in-studio audience while recording an episode of Titan Town Sports—a weekly half-hour magazine format program covering Westminster and high school athletics—for the Westminster College Network (WCN).   

Erik Robbins ’01—a Westminster alumnus and Butler Area High School English teacher who also teaches sports broadcasting and communications—organized the day to connect his students with current Westminster communication students.  

“The field trip to Westminster was exactly what a field trip should be. The students were engaged the entire time. My students were able to see the broadcasting facilities, meet with faculty and students, watch the taping of a studio show and most importantly, they were able to get involved. They took turns operating the studio cameras, control room equipment and some even got the chance to do some on-camera promos. It was fantastic,” said Robbins.
 
“Honestly, for me, it was an incredibly fulfilling, full-circle kind of day. I was so excited to see that Westminster is still doing so much. The current Westminster students are right in the trenches with the faculty, learning the craft and preparing for their own futures,” he said.

Gary Swanson, director of broadcasting, technical operations manager and chief operator of WCN and WWNW-FM, was happy to welcome his former student employee back to campus. 

To see what a tremendous teacher and mentor Erik has become is deeply gratifying. Having the opportunity to showcase our programs while working with his students and feeding off everyone’s collective energy was an awesome experience. We’re looking forward to fostering more opportunities like this in the future,” Swanson said.

Westminster student Emily Tallis—a first-year strategic communication and social media, broadcasting and sports communication major from Butler, Pa.—was one of several Titans to show the high schoolers around campus and answer questions. 

“As a Butler High School alum, it’s always awesome to see Butler students come to Westminster and visit. I have a sense of pride when I see people I know from back home come to campus. They all have bright futures and from what some of them have already told me, they are considering a future at Westminster and that fills my heart with so much joy,” Tallis said.

Westminster previously produced its highly successful, Coaches Corner, for decades before recently transitioning the show into Titan Town Sports. Westminster’s studios are equipped with a flexible learning studio space outfitted with broadcast quality HD cameras, networked based capture and switching devices and powerful computing systems with full motion graphics, multichannel instant replay and multichannel audio systems. These state-of-the-art broadcasting tools cultivate students’ creativity and provide them with network level experience that will be an advantage when they begin their careers.

You can find Titan Town Sports and the School of Communication’s broadcast and radio programs by visiting wcn247.com.

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