Penn-Trafford to get annual Make-A-Wish telethon back up and running

In a typical school year, video production students manning the annual Make-A-Wish telethon at Penn-Trafford High School could rely on the experience of the previous year’s class.

The expertise of students who already had been through the four-hour live broadcast, with its massive production schedule and little room for error, was a crucial resource.

The past two years have been anything but typical, however, and the juniors and seniors in this year’s video production class don’t have any peer mentors. Last year’s telethon, which benefits local Make-A-Wish efforts, was canceled.

The 2021 “Wishes for Warriors” Telethon for Make-A-Wish will air live on the Penn-Trafford TV YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 21.

They have video production teacher Steve Vinton’s knowledge and experience, but Vinton would be the first to emphasize that the telethon is all about putting the production in the students’ hands.

“The last time we did this was December 2019, and all of those students are gone,” Vinton said.

Senior Becca Mills, 17, said that while her class doesn’t have direct experience to draw on, “we have a template for what the telethon used to be.”

The broadcast will be a mix of live reads, interviews, public service announcements, creative videos, check presentations and performances, along with prerecorded segments media production students filmed and edited starting in October.

Each student’s role changes as the day goes on, with everyone taking turns as director, producer, technical director, host, and roughly a dozen other positions necessary for the production to run smoothly.

“I’m producing the first half-hour,” said senior Morgan Fong, 18. “It’s the most important part of the show, because we’re introducing everything and it all starts to take off.”

For Fong, that means knowing the schedule practically down to the second, along with all of the logistics: whether hosts, performers and check presenters are ready for their live segments; and whether the technical director has all of the graphics necessary, correct spellings for names and more.

Senior Jake Pleins, 17, said his favorite role is technical director.

“I make sure all of the video plays, the audio is muted at the right time,” he said. “Mr. Vinton always described it as ‘the hot seat,’ where you’re kind of in the middle of everything.”

Mills said she likes how the telethon gets the school district into the holiday spirit.

“I like working as a team, and I like that we get to help the community,” she said.

Despite losing some events to health and safety restrictions amid the covid-19 pandemic, Vinton said the fundraising total from telethons over the years is on pace to top $200,000.

Pleins said the end result of the telethon makes the challenge of pulling off the broadcast well worth it.

“I just think it’s really exciting,” he said.