After 3 months of rehab, Bayshore High School reopens TV studio

BRADENTON -- After a decade of inactivity, Bayshore High School reopened its television studio Thursday.

"Eventually, we'll be able to do a live show," said 18-year-old Ariel Diaz, one of the anchors. "We'll involve the whole school a lot more."

The $3,000 studio renovation was three months in the making. It was spearheaded by Bayshore digital production teacher Pamela Platt and Manatee Schools Television head Stefano Biancardi.

Using money earned from industry certification, recycling furniture, tapping into the carpentry skills of Manatee Technical College students and giving old equipment some tender love and care, the Bayshore Rising studio is ready for students to use again. Decorated in a tiki style, the studio is meant to be a fun and relaxing area.

"We got a lot more than we expected," said Ian Salic, a 16-year-old junior Platt called a producer in training. "We can get much more done now."

Last year, with one digital camera and one photo camera, the digital production program taped and edited one show per week. With the new space and new equipment, Platt hopes to produce at least one live show per day in addition to taped and edited pieces. Her goal is to show students and the community the "real Bayshore."

"I think the TV program will give the kids an

opportunity to see themselves in a different light," she said.

Each time a student is certified in an industry area such as Adobe, the school receives a rebate, which was how Platt was able to put money into rehabilitating a TV studio area previously used for book storage. About 20 students are involved in the project now, but Platt has already had school clubs come in to shoot promotional videos.

TV production is the second-most popular elective in Florida, Biancardi said. The average amount of video watched is about 9.5 hours per day, he said, creating a wealth of jobs for those entering the industry.

"We're just exploding in video production right now," he said.

Each Manatee County school has some type of TV production studio and some are in better shape than others. Biancardi said he'd like to look around at the other high school studios in need of upgrades, including Manatee and Braden River high schools.

"That's going to be my next project," he said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 11:41 PM with the headline "After 3 months of rehab, Bayshore High School reopens TV studio ."