New Media+ graduates first senior class from Tri-County Career Center

NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Tassels turned from one side to another, hands were raised in celebration and applause thundered in what was simultaneously a joyous and bittersweet occasion Tuesday night at Tri-County Career Center and High School’s 2023 Passport Ceremony.

Six seniors from multiple school districts in Athens, Hocking and Perry counties came together to form the first class to graduate from the New Media+ program. We started this program together in fall 2021 with a dream and hope that we could create a place for students to use journalism as a backbone to create content that would open doors to a plethora of career opportunities. They did that and so much more.

Our first class proved to be the perfect class. Some were better at writing, some at video, photography or audio and each of their strengths proved to help others grow. Their willingness to be nudged out of their comfort zones allowed them to shatter perceived boundaries they had of themselves. 

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We learned together, critiqued each other, laughed more than we probably should at inside jokes (they even laughed at *some* of my dad jokes) and we grew together.

Late Tuesday night, I dropped off the video and audio equipment we used to livestream the ceremony and paused to look over the empty lab. Emotion grabbed hold of me as I realized the finality of the day’s events.

Cade found his laugh in that classroom. Ryder learned how to learn from mistakes. Luke found kindred spirits. August’s writing ability grew to rival her filibuster skills. Achilles found brothers and sisters and a love for photography. Addi developed into an all-around skilled content creator with a aptitude for leadership.

They wrote stories that were published, made podcasts that were broadcasted, shot award-winning photography and crafted excellent video pieces. They interned at newspapers, hosted radio shows, won scholarships and even wrote, produced and filmed an original sitcom episode. They became colleagues and even family to each other. They decided to “find a way in” — our unofficial class motto — to many different experiences in class and in life.  

We teach to avoid using cliches but I’m going to break the rule here. I truly believe I learned more from them than they could have learned from me. The memories I’ll take from them, the measure of their hearts and the dedication they showed to making my dream of this program becoming a reality will remain with me forever.

New Media+ is still in its infancy and of course we don’t know what the future holds. However, if the program does fold some day down the road, it still would have been a success because this first class succeeded. They willed it as much as anyone has.

They didn’t do it alone though. I’d like to take a moment to thank some media partners that helped expose these students to real-world bylines and soundbites including: The Athens Messenger, Athens News, Athens Independent, Logan Daily News, Perry County Tribune, WAIS/WSEO Radio and Hocking Hills Messenger to name a few. We also have terrific members on our advisory board that help steer our ship. Finally, the program could not exist without the tremendous support from the administration and staff at Tri-County. Our students are able to tell incredible stories from all the different programs offered at the school and our teachers, directors, superintendent and school board are gracious in their support of the New Media+ students.

I’ll miss those seniors but this is what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to get these students ready for the next step and support them along the way. I know they’re going to continue to do great things in their lives.

We have around a dozen juniors coming into the fold in the fall to be led by two incredible returning students in Demetrius and Alabama and I’m excited to see what accomplishments they and each group after them can achieve on the shoulders of this first graduating class.

The program’s work can be found at www.sjnm360.com and interested students can apply and learn more about the program at www.tricountyhightech.com.

Joe Higgins is the instructor of New Media+ at Tri-County Career Center and High School. This article originally appeared on The 360, a publication of the New Media+ program.