(Photo by Shelley Hanson) John Marshall High School students in the WJMH Media program, from left, junior Levi Whetzal, senior Ash Roth and sophomore Chloe Pickett provide election night coverage this week at the Marshall County Courthouse. The school’s media program is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

MOUNDSVILLE — John Marshall High School’s media program, WJMH, has grown from a fledgling broadcasting class using VCRs to a multimedia production program complete with modern equipment, reporting on and televising dozens of events each year.

The program, founded by Tony Wood with help from his wife Kim, friend Pancho Flores and others, is celebrating 20 years since its start during the 2005-06 school year.

Wood, now the communications coordinator for Marshall County Schools, remains closely involved with the program, which is taught by Carly McElhaney.

“Tonight is our 20th anniversary of doing election results,” Wood said Tuesday at the Marshall County Courthouse during primary election coverage. “The seniors that year came down and did the same thing that these kids are doing, but on a smaller scale because the program had just started.”

Wood said the biggest change over the past 20 years has been technology. In the beginning, the program was so new he had to rewrite the curriculum for the state board of education.

“When I first started the program 20 years ago, it was all analog equipment and they had to shoot on tapes, ingest the video into a computer program to edit the video,” he said. “It was a longer process. The aspect ratio was different; instead of the rectangle you are used to now, it was a square picture.”

Now videos are digital and students each have laptops for editing. Instead of one camera, the program uses several. It also has its own studio for news broadcasts and a mobile broadcasting vehicle that allows coverage of a wide range of events. Annually, students broadcast parades in Moundsville, Wheeling and St. Clairsville, home football and basketball games, OVAC championships, graduation ceremonies and events such as Dancing With the Ohio Valley Stars and Symphony on Ice.

“We’re going to be doing the St. Clairsville parade in June for the 250th anniversary,” he said.

Because of their skills, students have become sought after to cover live events and produce video content.

“We’re always picking up another event,” McElhaney said. “We are self-sufficient, but we are super blessed the county still supports us in many ways and I think they see the work we’re putting out there and the work these kids are doing.”

McElhaney and Wood said they are proud of current and past students.

“I always say I would put my students up against any students in the nation,” she said. “They’re great. They’re dedicated. They stick up for each other. They stick up for us. They’re just great kids.”

McElhaney was once a student in the program at John Marshall High School. She said her “dream job” was to become the media teacher there.

“I loved my time in broadcasting, but I wanted to give back what was given to me in the program,” she said.

The program is part of the school district’s career technical education offerings. Wood said students learn not only technical broadcasting skills but also communication and teamwork.

“It’s great that they see the common goal of putting on a professional production,” he said. “And they learn to cooperate with each other. They learn to accept people for who they are and they also become better people themselves.”

Wood said the program is also a confidence booster for many students.

“I always call it the ‘aha!’ moment,” he said. “At first they come in and they’re a little timid and ‘I can’t do this’ and all of a sudden it clicks. That’s their ‘aha!’ moment and they’re like, ‘I can do this.'”

Wood said former students often return to share how the program helped them succeed, including in careers outside broadcasting.

“My motto was always, I hope they learn a little about broadcasting, a lot about life,” he said. “These are life skills they can take no matter what they do in life. They don’t have to become a broadcaster. They don’t have to become a reporter. They don’t have to get into production. But all successful relationships are based on great communication. Without good communication you can’t get along in life.”

Wood said he is proud of McElhaney’s leadership in continuing the program he taught for its first 10 years.

“I’m excited to continue on past the next 20 years,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen. With technology, with AI, I want the kids to continue to be as creative as they can be to build their confidence and build their relationships. They put their heart and soul into it and that makes me feel really good.”

The students’ work, WJMH Media, can be seen on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Select events, such as the OVAC Championships and local Christmas parades, are broadcast live on WTRF-TV CBS, WTRF ABC Ohio Valley, WTRF My Ohio Valley, WTRF.com and WTRF+.

“I want them to have an impact on their community as well,” Wood said. “That’s why we’re here tonight and why we do all the outside remote events that we do — to help them build relationships.”

Flores said he was proud to support the program and its students.

“My dad, who taught at John Marshall for all those years, always said one thing: if you can touch one kid’s life through your career, yearly, that’s all that matters,” Flores said. “We’ve touched many. If we can teach one thing about life, about growing up, that’s what it’s all about. They learn how to become themselves.”

Senior Ash Roth said he joined the program as a junior and quickly became invested in it.

“I have just fallen in love with this program. I love working events. I love being here working events,” he said. “This program really holds a special part of my heart.”

Roth plans to attend West Liberty University to major in journalism and minor in political science and public service.

“I’d love to be a wonderful, big reporter someday — maybe national television if I get the chance, but that’s a pretty big dream,” Roth said. “But maybe I can get there. Hopefully this is a step in my way.”

Roth said he enjoys the unpredictability of live production.

“I never know what’s going to happen at the board or if I’m the live reporter,” he said. “I have no idea if a mic check is going to go wrong or if audio is going to go wrong or if I’m going to need to change on the fly. I love that challenge. I love that heat-of-the-moment decision making.”