Outlaws media students visit U of O

The new Outlaw Media class at Sisters High School is introducing a wide array of skills to SHS students. Many of these skills are founded on hands-on interactions, which led to their recent field trip to the Allen Hall School of Journalism and the University of Oregon.

Photo by Jack Turpen

Sisters High School media team members got a glimpse of university programs on a field trip.

A small group of eight students, including chaperones Susan Seaney and Matt Hilgers, were led around campus by Mikala Selman, a current SOJC student and junior ambassador. The group met with Professors Kelli Matthews and Kym Rohman before talking with production specialist Jon Sharpy. They toured the broadcast studio, production rooms, and podcast studio, making sure to take in everything around them.

The tour was informational in numerous ways, both providing ideas for life post-high school and allowing students to visualize concepts learned in class.

"I think the class got a ton out of the trip," said Jack Turpen, Outlaw Media program coordinator. "Experiences like this are vital to our juniors and seniors who are still looking into what their career path could be. It was also beneficial to Outlaw Media Club members of the group who run day-to-day operations like news and assemblies. They walked away with several ideas on future improvements for our Outlaw Media studio at the high school."

"I learned a lot as a senior being able to look around colleges and apply things that I learned in class" said senior Brooklyn Cooper.

Turpen told The Nugget that it was additionally beneficial to see what kind of equipment they were using and realize that their small-town technology wasn't too different from what was being used on campus.

The field trip marks the first of what Turpen hopes to be many more interactions with real-world applications of the class.