PARMA, Ohio — For more than 50 years, the Parma Schools Digital Media and Creative Arts program has prepared hundreds of high school students with a professional curriculum in television production, digital content creation and more.
20-year instructor David Droes told News 5 the program continues to evolve with a constantly updated course of study and the latest equipment, as the way we consume news and information continues to change at lightening speed.
"It’s fantastic, I’ve enjoyed it every year, the excitement never fades away, I enjoy working with the kids," Droes said. “They’re working with cameras, learning the basics of filming, framing, they’re taking that video they’re editing their own stuff.”
Droes said a crucial part of his class is teaching that fair and balanced reporting in journalism and digital content creation is paramount in an often politically polarized society.
“Our class is not the place to talk politics and stuff like that, we try to focus on where people are getting that information from, where are they going to see your content," Droes said. "The biggest thing for me is how is this information going to be consumed in the future, and this generation is capable of handling it.”
Student Luke Kopy, who produces the Normandy High School morning announcements, told News 5 he'll pursue a career in military service, but said the program is teaching him life skills that will carry him through no matter what path he takes.
“The class is taking a new approach to how our generation will actually take information in and watch the news," Kopy said. “Teaching us time management is very important, especially with the projects we get, you have a certain deadline you have to hit.”
Student Chase Konarzewski said he'll pursue a career in law enforcement, and said the program will help him meet the growing need for police body camera video management.
“I’m very lucky to be in a district that provides this program, we have some really good equipment that really can’t be found outside of new studios in most places," Konarzewski said. “The world is changing fast and we need to find people that can change with it, people that can set a new meaning of news, especially when social media is taking over.”
The program also produced several WEWS-TV News 5 employees over the years. News 5 Senior Producer Randall Ziemnik, who is a 2006 Normandy High School graduate, had some advice for aspiring journalists.
Dave Droes, the instructor there, does such a great job of teaching at a college level," Ziemnik said. "You need to know a little bit about everything, become a mini expert about a lot of different things, and just embrace technology, embrace work.”
News 5 photojournalist David Deger is another program graduate.
“Oh it was huge for me, it kind of set-off my entire life trajectory at the start, I didn’t realize how big of an impact it was going to be for me," Deger said. “I didn’t expect that when I got to News 5 that so many people I would be working with were alumni from this program here at Normandy.”
News 5 Investigator Joe Pagonakis was also a graduate of the program in 1977. Joe's instructor, Phil Stella, was the pioneering educator who launched the program's first curriculum, and had Joe and dozens of other students producing instructional television programming that was airing in classrooms across Ohio.
"At that point, we were one of the few programs in the county, so when word got out we got visited a lot by other school systems who were interested in trying to do something similar," Stella said. "Joe, you responded well to feedback and I imagine that’s been one of the reasons you’ve been so successful at TV-5. “So whenever I would see you on TV, if there was anybody within earshot, I would say that’s Joe Pagonakis, I worked with him.”
