If you attend Apple Valley High School you’ve probably seen at least one episode of EaglEye, the school’s news show. What you may not know is that our school’s show has won many awards — and that they recently won three out of seventeen categories at the regional awards ceremony.

On April 10th, Apple Valley High School won three Crystal Pillar awards at the Student Production Awards ceremony at the Mall of America. These awards, which have been going on for six years now, are sponsored by NATAS, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences…the same people that host the Emmy Awards. One of these awards, Best Live Sports Event, went to the Eagle Media Crew. The other two awards were presented to EaglEye.

One award was for  Best Serious Story. The news crew did a story on a boy named Drew who graduated AVHS last year, called “Drawing Drew.” Emily Severson was the reporter, Ivan Calixto was the producer, and Matt Kotlan was the writer, photographer, and editor.

“The competition’s getting much better,” said Mr. Dodge, EaglEye’s advisor. In the past, AVHS has won best newscast, best writing, best talent, best photographer, best editor, best serious news story, and best light news story — which is every category they’ve entered. Last year, Apple Valley won nine awards.

Senior Matt Kotlan, the winner of the Best Writing Award, said, “Some people will just tell facts. I think what set my piece apart is the way I tell a story.”

The award was a composite of Matt’s best work from everything he’s written in the last year. His position this year on EaglEye is the executive producer — but according to Matt, he’s there to help other kids understand communication skills more than anything else. Matt plans on going into film and hopefully screenwriting in his future, and this award will help show other people what he can do.

Being on EaglEye takes dedication and commitment. The news show is completely student produced, with Cliff Dodge and Drew McCluskey as teachers in the Intro to Broadcast Class and Advanced Broadcast Class. They do three to five stories every week and broadcast to the school every other Thursday.

“It’s the only class in the school where all your peers judge your work,” said Dodge.

When students on EaglEye do an interview, they bring three things that are essential: a microphone, a light, and a tripod. The good lighting, sound, and steady shot create a professional level of quality for the newscasts.

EaglEye also incorporates a variety of different pieces into their shows. Each show has human interests, sports and action, humor, and emotional pieces. Other schools may only feature popular kids in their shows, but EaglEye tries to fit different types of kids into their human interests pieces, so their shows appeal to a wider range of students.

“You learn how to write, how to tell a story, and the technical aspects like recording an interview, but more than anything, you learn about communication skills,” said Kotlan.

EaglEye teaches students a wide variety of different skills, and is a great and unique opportunity for kids who are interested in news reporting. It is also a representation of Apple Valley High School’s excellence in preparing students for future careers.