Tonight, the Maine West TV, radio and film students and their families celebrated a year of success at the annual Maine West Film TV & Showcase and Awards Night. The evening featured select student-produced films and honored a number of students who, throughout this school year, have demonstrated excellence in the media arts and leadership in the Maine West TV, radio, film and WMTH programs.
Congratulations to all of the students who were involved in the media arts this year...you did incredible work! Congratulations, as well, to their dedicated teacher, Ms. Rebecca Fisher on all of her students' accomplishments, and a big thank you to her for organizing tonight's celebratory event!
A huge thanks to all of the family and friends who came out to tonight's Maine West TV & Film Showcase. Your support of our students is so appreciated!
More pictures from tonight's showcase can be found HERE.
On Saturday, October 21st, Maine West students participated in the 2nd Annual Media Career Day sponsored by WMTH and the Media Arts program, organized by Ms. Rebecca Fisher and funded by the Maine Township High School Foundation!
Students toured the studio spaces, as well as the News Nation spaces, with WGN producer (and Maine West parent) Adrienne Balow. We saw several control rooms, Bozo's dressing room, editing rooms, and several studios! Students had the opportunity to watch the Saturday morning anchors record their show live.
Upon returning to Maine West, students heard from a panel of speakers from the media industry about their experiences in their career pathways. Students heard from the following speakers:
Adrienne Balow- Producer at WGN and Maine West Parent Alejandro Marin- Freelance Cinematographer Brian Swanson- Editor
A huge thanks to Ms. Rebecca Fisher for her tremendous efforts in organizing this experience for Maine West students.
A special thanks to Ms. Adrienne Balow for affording us access to WGN!
Thanks to WGN for welcoming Maine West students into your studio spaces so they could experience a professional TV studio!
Thank you to the Maine Township High School Foundation for supporting this wonderful educational opportunity through your transportation grant!
Thank you to the parent chaperones who helped make the trip a success!
More pictures from the 2nd Annual Media Career Day can be found HERE.
The work of several Maine West film students recently received recognition from two prestigious film organizations: Midwest Media Educators' Association (MMEA) and The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS; the organization behind the Emmy Awards).
We are so proud of these students and their film teacher, Ms. Rebecca Orr, for their achievements!
Congratulations to the following students:
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Student Production Award Nominees (LINK)
Ash Carmichael - Arts and Culture Nomination: Expressing Identity Through Art
Addie Webb - Serious News Nomination: Banned Book Week at Maine West
Russell Adaya - Public Service Announcement Nomination: Be Kind PSA
Midwest Media Educators' Association Award Recipients (LINK)
Kris Modi - Recipient of the Lucas Palermo Scholarship
On Wednesday, April 26th, Maine West Fine Arts teacher, Ms. Rebecca Orr, received recognition for her extraordinary work incorporating career connections and experiences in her Broadcasting curriculum and programming.
Specifically, Ms. Orr was recognized for the Media Career Day she organized in October, which involved a panel of media professionals and a trip to Noise Floor studios. Read more about the Media Career Day HERE.
Mr. Dan Kolen, Coordinator of Digital Media for District 207, created a wonderful video capturing the tremendous work of Ms. Orr.
Congratulations, Ms. Orr! You are so deserving of this recognition!
Nikhil Nair's film, "How to Make a 'Dum' Good Biriyani," placed 3rd in the festival!
On Saturday, April 15, Maine West film students, along with their teacher Ms. Rebecca Orr, attended the 16th Annual Screen Test Student Fest, an international screen test featuring the best short films created by high school filmmakers.
Two Maine West students, Ash Carmichael and Nikhil Nair, had films selected for the festival.
Nikhil ended up placing 3rd at the festival!
CONGRATULATIONS Ash and Nikhil! We are so very proud of you!
Brooke Capper filming a news package on the event. The photo is of her interviewing Rob Pileckis who runs the Screen Test Student Fest.
Nikhil Nair speaking about his film, "How to Make a 'Dum' Good Biriyani.
Ash Carmichael speaking about their film, "Expressing Identity Through Art."
We recently learned that two Maine West students have been selected as finalists in the Screen Test Student Fest film competition! Representing Maine West are the following students:
Ash Carmichael
Nikhil Nair
The Fine Arts Department and the entire Maine West community are so proud of these students for being accepted into this festival. We are honored to have them representing our school.
Screen Test Student Fest is on Friday, April 14th at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg (201 Schaumburg Court). Winners of this festival receive a cash prize and will compete the following day in the international round, which is held virtually. The 2nd and 3rd place and audience choice winners also receive a cash prize.
Check out the amazing films created by these students below:
Ash Carmichael's "Expressing Identity Through Art"
We recently learned that Maine West junior, Ben Pluta, has been selected by the faculty of the College of Fine Arts and Communications (COFAC) at Western Illinois University to participate in the inaugural COFAC Young Artist Awards Day on Thursday, April 6, 2023.
The awards competition recognizes talented high school juniors in various artistic categories, including music, musical theatre, dance, acting, visual arts, broadcasting and journalism. Ben received this recognition for his achievement in broadcasting through his participation in Advanced TV & Film classes at Maine West, as well as his extensive involvement in WMTH.
On April 6, 2023, Ben will be participating in a day of activities at the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Western Illinois University, and will be receiving his award recognition.
Congratulations to Ben and to his broadcasting teacher Ms. Rebecca Orr on this wonderful recognition!
On Friday, December 2nd, WMTH hosted area middle schoolers to teach them how to film and produce a livestream of a varsity basketball game. Thanks to Ms. Rebecca Orr for organizing this wonderful event for our future Warrior Broadcasters! Thanks to all of the area middle school students who were guest camera operators, producers, anchors, and the many other roles needed to create a livestream!
On Saturday, October 22, Ms. Orr sponsored a Media Career Day for all interested students at Maine West. Almost 50 students attended this wonderful career opportunity!
Students began the day with a speaker panel led by senior, Abby Wilson. We heard from Isabel Lugo, a radio personality with Shine FM, Michael Norman, a producer from Marquee Sports, and Mallory Winker, a video game podcast editor with Pipeline.
Students then traveled to Noisefloor in River North where they got to tour their production studios. Students got to see the recording booths and foley studios! Students watched a sit down interview led by Ash Carmichael with one of the owners, Jamie Vanadia. The cut of the interview should be done in December- stay tuned!
Thank you to Ms. Orr for organizing this wonderful event for students! Thanks to Ms. Lugo, Mr. Norman, Ms. Winker and the wonderful folks at Noisefloor for sharing your time and talents with the students of Maine West!
Brooke Capper receiving a Crystal Pillar award at NATAS Silver Circle Dinner.
The Foundation of The National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announced the nominees for the 2022 National Student Production Awards. Nominees were selected from high school student entries from across the United States in 25 different programming and craft categories.
"The EMMY® Awards are the “gold standard” in the television broadcast industry - recognizing the very best of the best. Similarly, the National Student Production Awards recognize the very best from our industry’s next generation of media creators and leaders.,” said Terry O’Reilly, Chairman, NATAS. “The work they’re doing today promises an amazing future ahead - for them, and for the entire television community."
“The work created by our nominees is exemplary,” said Danielle Mannion, Education Chair, NATAS. “Each year the students and their teachers raise the bar of excellence higher. The future of the industry looks bright with these talented individuals leading the way!”
This year’s submissions were successfully culled from over 2000 entries from the regional chapters of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Entries were judged by selected industry professionals and media academics.
Maine West's Brooke Capper received a national nomination in the category of light news for her piece, The Hope Wall.
Brooke will find out if she has received a national award on November 17, 2022 via a web stream produced by NATAS. This and all NATAS ceremonies are available on NATAS’ dedicated viewing platform powered by Vimeo, available on the web at Watch.TheEmmys.TV and via The Emmys® apps for iOS, tvOS, Android, FireTV, Roku and Samsung TV (full list at apps.theemmys.tv).
Congratulations to Brooke and to her broadcasting teacher, Ms. Orr, on this distinguished nomination!
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to be anchors this year for Warrior Weekly! We are looking forward to seeing you on the screen!
The Silver Circle Dinner honors exemplary work in the television industry for people with 25 years or more of experience. Roz Varon, a Maine East graduate, was one of the honorees. Students of the television arts also receive awards for exemplary work. HEREare all recipients of this year's student production awards.
Brooke Capper and Ms. Rebecca Orr
Maine West student, Brooke Capper, received a Crystal Pillar Award for her news package, The Hope Wallin the category of light news at the NATAS Silver Circle Dinner on Friday, May 13, 2022. This is the high school equivalent of earning an Emmy Award. We are so very proud of Brooke!
