Impressing the pros

MIAMI | The stars of South Florida TV news came to be honored, but they heaped praise on those who honored them: CCNN Live, the student-run television station of Christopher Columbus High School.

"Absolutely spectacular," exclaimed Roxanne Vargas of NBC6 during the Media Excellence Awards at the boys' school, which is run by the Marist Brothers. "CCNN has brought together the community of broadcasters to celebrate what they do."

John Turchin of Local 10 agreed. "They�ve outdone themselves. If they were looking to impress, they did it."

The April 12 event gathered the top pros of those news outfits, plus CBS4, Telemundo, Univision and WSVN-7. The stated goal of the event was to recognize the professionals who have inspired the students in producing quality broadcast news. But another goal, of course, was to raise the profile of CCNN itself.

It was another level-up in the blend of skill, hard work and old-fashioned moxie that has landed the school station interviews with sports and movie figures, and earned it more than 30 awards for its work. Impressive indeed for a bunch of boys from 14 to 18 years old.

"We were definitely slightly confident to think they'd come," admitted Andrew Briz, a senior who serves as president and main anchor of CCNN.

For the awards ceremony, the school cafetorium was morphed into a blend of banquet hall and hi-tech reception. On either side of the round dinner tables were four wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, repeating the images on a large projection screen onstage.

Flanking that screen were walls of large disks, some with the CCNN logo. Speaker arrays boomed music between presentations, mixing funk with adult contemporary music. All the enhancements were installed the day before, school officials said.

The 240-member audience treated the night as a black-tie affair, with men in tuxes and bowties, women in elegant evening gowns. They mingled in a cocktail hour, then sat for a catered dinner of short ribs and chicken with portabella mushrooms and marsala wine.

Vivian Gonzalez of WSVN set the tone as the emcee. "Communication is the key to achieving success in life, in news, in business, in friendships and in marriage," she said. "And we want to note the importance of TV journalism in the community. Without it, we would not have the ability to learn about others."

Awards were given in seven categories: On-Air Personality, Field Reporter, Sports Reporter, Entertainment Reporter, Weather Personality, Use of Social Media, and Local News Station of the Year. Winners were decided by votes among the school's 1,300 students.

Each winner got a marquis-shaped award of clear Lucite with blue backing. Presenters included CCNN staffers along with adult alumni.

Gonzalez, who got the Weather Personality award, urged her young listeners to "dream big, and most importantly -- the simplest of all virtues -- work hard. Because anything is possible."

The possibilities burst on NBC-6's Vargas when she received the notice for the ceremony two weeks before. "I was blown away, it was pure genius," she said. And on April 12, she received the Media Excellence Award as Best Entertainment Reporter.

Kevin Ozebek of WSVN-Ch. 7 thanked CCNN for his award for Best Use of Social Media, then imitated TV host Ellen DeGeneres -- whipping out a cellphone camera to shoot a "selfie" of himself with everyone.

"This is a full circle moment," said Ozebek, who noted that he looked up to TV reporters and anchors as a high school student 10 years ago. "I'm so excited to see the stories you guys will tell 10 years from now."

There was no competition for one title: A special Founder's Award for Sal Cannella, the retired physics teacher who began the germ of CCNN 22 years ago. Before he could speak, the whole room rose to clap and cheer.

The outpouring briefly took him aback. Finally he said, "The joke has been that I'm never at a loss for words. But I am."

The awards ceremony was covered by news outfits including WSVN-Ch. 7, Univision and the Miami Herald. It even drew media crews from two high schools, Ferguson in Miami and American Heritage in Plantation. They shot the adults as they entered via a red-carpeted walk, then interviewed the award winners.

Audience members, many of them Columbus alumni, voiced elation at the awards program afterward. "Amazing" was an oft-heard word.

Cesar Casamayor, of the class of 1984, said he was already looking forward to the 2015 edition. "I think it'll be even bigger and better next year," he said.

Gonzalo and Amarillus Perez pronounced themselves "proud parents" for CCNN and their son, David, one of the anchors. They also praised the Marists for the faith-based education at Columbus High.

"It's amazing how they care for the children," said Amarillus Perez, who added that David is also a lector at St. Agatha Church in Miami. "A Catholic upbringing is the foundation of who they are as individuals."

In a separate interview, Cannella, who retired in 2006, marveled at how far his dream had come. As he tells it, a video company installed TVs and a cable hookup for Columbus High School, along with a daily 12-minute newsfeed with commercials.

He got permission to replace the feed with student-produced reports on school activities, and the endeavor was launched -- modestly -- with his video camera, blue-felt backdrop and clip-on lights from a hardware store.

Later, the operation grew in size and scope, with the video side directed by Omar Delgado, the journalistic side by Christina Hidalgo. Nowadays, students work not only with mikes and cameras, but teleprompters, green screen technology, and animation software like Cinema 4D.

"Anything to do with media, they�ll do it," Delgado said.

But the achievements are with the people, not the gear, Cannella said. "What these guys have done has very little to do with technology. It has more to do with the creativity of Omar Delgado and Christina Hidalgo. But most importantly, with the creativity of the kids."

CCNN Live produces a daily 20-minute newscast, webcasting on the station's site, ccnnlive.com, as well as YouTube. The team also covers football, baseball and basketball for the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations, which reposts the clips on its webpage.

Over the years, the young broadcasters have interviewed cast members of "Kung Fu Panda" and one of the "Twilight" movies. They have produced promotions for companies like TotalBank and Copa Coca-Cola. And CCNN was the only station to cover the recent Second General Synod of the Archdiocese of Miami. The student reporters got an interview with keynote speaker Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, who later praised their journalistic skills in his talk.

Among its 30-plus awards, the station this year placed third among 144 schools in national competition run by the Student Television Network -- and first in Florida for the last two years in contests sponsored by the Florida Scholastic Press Association.

Briz, CCNN's president, said he sees at least one field yet to conquer: "Politics. I think that's not covered enough. Of course, it's hard to get students interested in it."

As enterprising as Columbus High's broadcasters are, they�ll face their own challenges as communication technology advances, said Ozebek, the social media award winner.

"You have to evolve and adapt," he said. "I had to learn things like Instagram, and these kids will have to learn things that don�t exist yet."

He smiled. "But they�ll do it. They're smart kids."