The Falcon Vision program earned multiple national awards at the 2025 Student Television Network Convention on March 1- 4 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Students competed in fast-paced events that tested their knowledge and skill set in broadcast journalism and film.
Falcon Vision secured placements in six out of eight events, which marked a significant achievement for the program. The team competed in Division I for the first time after moving up from Division II last year, and earned the following awards:
First Place: Public Service Announcement (PSA)
Ken Dorrell (10), Kyle Busby (11), Nickolas Sanchez-Kishko (10), Sawyer Hawkins (12), Steve Doh (11)
Second Place: Sports Promo Editing
Cade Barber (11), Gael Herrero (12)
Third Place: Anchor Team
Catalina Baraya (11), Hajin Park (12), Katerina Wietfeldt (11)
Honorable Mention (Fourth place): Silent Film
Ceili McNichols (10), Hailey Godinez (10), Portia Perry (10)
Honorable Mention (Fifth Place) : Sports Highlight Editing
Trevor McKeever (10), Vincent McKeever (12)
Honorable Mention (Fifth Place): Vlog Division I
Riley Blais (11), Karina Shukla (11), Jamie Crowley (11), Bailey Dotters (11)
For many of the Falcon Vision students, the experience was intense and transformative.
“STN was like a daunting competition, I’d say, because we’re facing off against 180 other schools and about 3,000 students,” Vincent McKeever (12), Executive Producer, said. “And this is only our fourth year as [the Falcon Vision program]. So we were pretty new, and it’s our first year ever in DI going against other top video schools … we thought we weren’t gonna place at all or to anything, but [after] a lot of hard work and a lot of crammed editing hours, in eight of our competitions, we [were able to] place in six of them, which is pretty amazing.”
The most demanding of the challenge was the Crazy Eights competition, in which students at the competition were given eight hours to produce a full broadcast morning show.
“The Crazy Eights morning show that we did was so very almost identical to Falcon Vision,” McKeever said. “It pretty much is. We had 20 people with eight hours to do this and for people that don’t really know the broadcast, like going out and getting an interview or finding someone and filming the clips takes a long time.”
From the experience, McKeever took away quite a few lessons.
“I think definitely one takeaway from my first one is how to lead people towards success,” McKeever said. “Two, how to deal with adversities, with a bunch of people, and not just myself. So something goes wrong, how to move them along the right track? And fix it in a short amount of time, and try to just keep moving on. And third, just knowing that the grind will be worth it all the way in the end.”
Karina Shukla (11), Anchor, agreed with McKeever.
“I would describe my overall experience that the convention is amazing,” Shukla said. “It was just such a unique and for lack of better words, amazing experience that was provided by the school, and I’m super grateful I got to go because it’s just unlike anything you could ever think of, and it just provides a great outlet for students interested in film and broadcast to just explore their interests.”
Beyond skill sets, Shukla presents something else that the convention provided for the team.
Riley Blais (11), who plans to study communications in college, reflects on the convention providing valuable insights into her future career.
“It was really a wonderful experience,” Blais said. “I met a lot of people from different schools, all different ages, and it really just gave me a glance into what I want to be when I’m older … and a chance to reach out and connect even with professionals in the television industry … it was really special to hear from someone who’s in the industry and has taught other people and it was really cool to see what I could be when I grow up, and the steps and process that I need to take to get there, and all the other little details and things that you can do to ensure your success. And I’m excited to bring it back to Falcon Vision.”
With the high expectations required of the students, bonding is ineluctable.
“The trip definitely made me get to know everyone better,” Blais said.“I think it was just really special because I got to meet people from the other [class periods] too. It was just a really awesome experience, because I don’t think I’d ever get to know those people as well as I do now if it wasn’t for STN and for Falcon vision. So I’m really grateful … it’s awesome just to bond with other kids and people who have similar interests.”
Chaperone Wendy DeLeon, Integrated Math 1, AVID and Math Support teacher, was equally impressed with the students’ teamwork, connection and dedication.
“I am not heavily involved with Falcon Vision, but it was very, very memorable,” DeLeon said. “One of those things that I thought was really memorable was just seeing how creative the students were and how they pushed their limits. There were multiple times when a couple students really stepped up as role models and helped their fellow classmates. STN provided those opportunities, and I think that’s something that I would like to carry with me in my classes, just giving my students those chances to really step up and to push themselves and challenge themselves.”
DeLeon gives recognition to key leaders on the team for their effort and dedication.
“A big shout out to Vincent and Santi,” DeLeon said. “Both of them were a huge help for the whole group in terms of just helping with the different films that were created and the different packages that were created, just helping support other students. And they both really helped me as a chaperone, just kind of keeping everyone together, and they brought a lot of positive energy to the group.”
