In the world of education, it can be said that the greatest way to gauge how you’re reaching a student is whether they, in turn, reach out to the world around them. Truly, there’s no stronger example of Fort Thomas classes doing exactly this than the way a group of FTIS Film and Broadcasting students dreamt of an updated news set for the production studio that would benefit future generations of Bluebirds.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting the HHS Mass Communications space, you know that most of the space rivals that of many colleges. With top-of-the-line equipment elsewhere in the department, some enterprising students wanted to update the equipment in the news studio to match the rest of the space.  Seven HHS seniors, took the initiative to research potential solutions and submitted the first-ever student-directed grant to the FTEF, totaling over $88,000. John Exterkamp, who took on a leadership role with the group, said “While we had advanced equipment like Blackmagic cameras, R8 cameras, and a high-tech editing room, the set itself was outdated and didn’t match the pace of our fast-evolving program. To enhance the realism and experience for our broadcasting students, we consulted with Mr. Poff and determined that pursuing a grant was the most effective solution.”

The FTEF grant approval committee was pleased to award enough for the students to immediately purchase the new anchor desk (with the old desk going to HMS for their growing program). FTEF’s outgoing Executive Director, Amy Shaffer, then spent the next 18-months mentoring the students through a fundraising campaign to help raise funds for the remainder of the requested items, including a strong set, and updated furniture for the sports broadcasting and talk show areas of the studio among other items.

Exterkamp reflected, “This project taught us valuable lessons such as understanding the challenges and complexities of fundraising. It requires a wide range of skills from networking and technology to planning, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to gain that experience.”

For media teacher Bill Poff, a sense of pride came with seeing his students take the future of the department into their own hands. “This particular project is an amazing example of the Foundation providing time, guidance and resources,” says Poff. “The Foundation provided a real-world opportunity for our students to ‘own’ their learning.”

At the end of this school year, the seven graduating seniors met to archive their work (96% completion of their fundraising goal) and transitioned the campaign to 6 rising seniors who will see the project to completion during the 2025-2026 school year, and maybe develop some big ideas of their own. For Exterkamp, the legacy is two-fold, “I am most proud of our immense planning and execution of this project but also for the opportunities it will provide to students at Highlands High School, a place that has given me so many opportunities myself.”

For Ashton Willis, he agrees, “While I will never sit at the desk to broadcast to the school, I am so happy for the students ahead that will get to create insightful stories in the updated studio that we helped fund,” he says. “This program means the world to me and my peers, this gift back to it will never equate to what it gave to all of us.”

If you’d like to learn more about this campaign or support the students in attaining their fundraising goal, visit their website.