¨Good Afternoon Greater Latrobe, we hope you´re having a great day.¨ This is something the students of Greater Latrobe Senior High School have heard various forms of during the daily announcements. Thanks to WCAT-TV it has been this way for over 20 years!

Mrs.Houck has been teaching the broadcasting program since the 2004-2005 school year, arriving shortly after the school was renovated to add the studio space. A local businessman and CEO of Iris Technologies Inc; Jerry Salandro, outfitted the studio with equipment to help the start of WCAT-TV. The name was founded by the first group of students who Mrs.Houck exclaims, ¨They were just really energetic and excited to help develop this program.¨ 

Now, the broadcasting program offers four different classes for students. These include Foundations of Broadcast, Sports Broadcasting & Video Production, Broadcast & Video Production 1, and Broadcast, Sports, & Video Production 2. 

Throughout the years, the program has received success at the Digital Media Arts Consortium at  Robert Morris University and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-Atlantic Emmy Chapter High School Production Awards for their work. Over 165 awards have been earned by students and WCAT-TV in the span of 20 years. To name a few, Ramiya Henderson won a Best Commerical Emmy Award for her “Get Hype for Boys Lacrosse” video in 2023 and Annie Duda’s Music Video “Lemonade” won a best-in-category Emmy Award in 2021.

Houck says that over the years she´s learned to stay up to date because ¨every year something is changing and you have to be willing to adapt.¨ The editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro, gets a yearly upgrade, but she says keeping an eye on social media and news trends plays a large role in her approach. She said, ¨I am constantly learning so that I can then help my students learn and grow as well.¨ 

Senior Sophia Bulava is one of those students as a fourth-year broadcasting student. She has been nominated for many awards, including success in the Digital Media Arts Consortium at Robert Morris University and a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Chapter High School Production Award. This past year she won a DMAC Award for her PSA and her role in the school announcements. Her PSA was even nominated for an Emmy Award! Sophia says she continued taking Mrs.Houck´s Broadcasting classes because ¨I definitely want to go into broadcasting and communications so it helps me get familiar with editing and recording.¨

Sophia says being a part of WCAT-TV has helped her interactions with people and class presentations. ¨It´s also made me a lot more creative, especially when I see videos on TikTok or social media. I think and go, ´Oh wait, broadcasting!´´ 

Many of Mrs.Houck’s former students have careers in the broadcasting and communications field. Some first-year students include Erich Schwartzel, a Reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Samantha [Whiel] Bresnahan, an award-winning, multiplatform Supervising Producer for CNN Global Features, CNN International’s production unit, based in London. Another first-year student includes Kate Kennedy-Lynch, a Director of External Relations at NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illnesses. A 2008 graduate, Mike DeFabo is a staff writer covering the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If you are interested in a career involving broadcasting or communications, check the course catalog to see how you can get involved!