By Catherine Kempista
Behind an unassuming door down a crowded hallway at Thomas McKean High School sits a classroom unlike any other in the building. With a full-scale broadcast radio station, podcasting studio, production-grade video stage with green screen, Apple Mac Studio computers, and professional-grade cameras and sound equipment, this technical suite belongs to Greg Boulden, McKean’s Audio, Radio, Video Broadcast Engineering & Design (ARV) pathway program teacher.
The ARV pathway prepares students for careers in the field with a high-quality technical education that can translate to employment directly out of high school. Students in the program have access to this creative playground where Boulden and his students combine self-expression with an education in television, film, radio, and digital media production.
“I chose the ARV program because I really loved working at home behind the camera before I came to high school,” says junior Ryan Williams, who choiced into McKean for the pathway.
This program, which only exists at a handful of Delaware high schools, is one of several pathways at McKean, which serves just under 1,000 students throughout the Red Clay Consolidated School District. It has one of the most comprehensive Delaware Pathways programs, offering a wide variety of career readiness tracks, including early childhood education, culinary and hospitality management, and automotive technology. Students can enroll in up to two pathways.
From their course offerings and the physical investments they have made in their pathway classrooms, career readiness is taken very seriously at McKean.
“It’s intentional,” says Reginald Worlds, McKean principal. “Our goal was always to have our kids college- and career-ready, and as we reshaped our vision, we wanted to make sure we had a robust catalog for all students. We have something for everybody here.”
Step Outside Your Hula Hoop
Choosing a pathway can be an easy decision for some students as the course content is a natural extension of an existing interest. For some of Boulden’s students, the interest is obvious and overflowing.
“I hope to someday win an award,” says Forest Savage, McKean senior.
For others, ARV is a secondary pathway that will provide skills to support other career and college goals. Regardless, Boulden is happy to have them.
“The skills they’re learning in this classroom, to me, have very little to do with audio, radio, and video and have everything to do with self-confidence as a teenager, presentation for a resume, improved writing skills, and the ability to see the world outside of yourself,” says Boulden. “It gives them a critical thinking lens that I don’t know every program can develop the way I can.”
Aiming to meet each student where they are, he starts each school year with an introductory lesson and a hula hoop.
“My hula hoop is how I teach class,” says Boulden. “You come into my room, your hula hoop is very small. You’re standing in the center. I never want a student to feel like they’ve left the hula hoop, their comfort zone . . . that they’re way out there when they’re public speaking, filming something, being creative. Instead, I want them to have one foot out, one foot in, and each day recognize how much they’ve grown.”
Creatively Changing Lives
A graduate of Salesianum School and DeSales University, Boulden has worked in audio and video production for more than 20 years and is now in his eighth year at McKean. Over the course of his career, he has worked at WDEL in board operations and production, launched the radio program at Newman University, started his own media company, and produced a music documentary. His passion for the industry is rooted in the creativity that comes from working with the various mediums.
“I applied [for] the job, and it’s kind of been a storybook ending because I get to be creative every single day with the students,” he says.
In the ARV pathway, he teaches 150 students across all grade levels. Students enter their chosen pathway program as freshman and either matriculate to level two or leave and pursue another field. According to Boulden, roughly 60 percent of the freshman enrolled stay for the entirety.
Students progress through the coursework, which includes technical competency components; public speaking, writing, audio and video production; and editing. Once a student knows the basics of how the equipment array works in the classroom and can adeptly navigate audio visual programs and editing software — such as Adobe After Effects— they advance to larger scale productions where they apply their skills as directors, producers, writers, and editors.
For advanced students, there are opportunities throughout the year to produce projects for state competitions, public events, and other schools and organizations in the district.
Last year, Williams was part of a team of students invited to cover one of Sen. Tom Carper’s final press appearances. The McKean team was assigned to the press pool and stood alongside local news outlets for the event.
“It was cool,” says Williams. “I got to talk to the Senator and ask him some questions.”
Many of the students’ projects and competition pieces are published to a YouTube channel, highlighting their
skills and craftmanship. The program and its students are well-known throughout the district.
When staff at the Meadowood Program needed help putting together a video for a grant submission, Boulden and his students were happy to help.
“They came to us and said, ‘We’re applying for a grant scholarship. Would you guys be willing to film it?” says Boulden. “Some of the students here filmed it, and they came and brought the $1,000 check they won.”
“This program is changing people’s lives,” says Savage.
Lights, Camera, Possibilities
These field experiences in combination with their technical training on state-of-the-art equipment in modern facilities prepare Boulden’s students to obtain an entry-level job in the field or pursue a college degree when they graduate from the program.
“Some of these kids really need to get meaningful employment quickly because they need to provide for their families,” says Boulden. “The pathways prepare students with a career set of skills, so they are career-ready at 18 rather than career-ready at 22. It’s making sure we’re able to say you can go off to college, but you can also go directly into employment and start making money now.”
Moisés Velázquez, a 2015 graduate of McKean, credits the ARV pathway for helping him find a field he truly loves. Today, he works for Red Clay School District as a creative media specialist & EDTv producer.
“Had I not seen the kids in the halls filming and had I not been involved in the radio station, I don’t know that I would have been interested,” says Velázquez. “It really opened my eyes to that world and the possibilities. I saw the lights and the cameras, and it really pulled me in.”
A Little Help from Your Friends
For some of Boulden’s students, the ARV program is the perfect place for them to take their innate talent to the next level and expand their possibilities.
Sundiata Watson and Vergil Perry, 2019 graduates of McKean and the ARV program, had been friends since they were 7 years old and shared the same interest in video production, creating something from nothing.
“I had a YouTube channel when I was like eight, nine years old when I moved to Delaware,” says Perry. “This was where Sundiata comes in because we would film skits and stuff together.”
As kids, they spent countless hours together using whatever camera technology they could get their hands on.
In middle school, Perry was always on track to attend McKean, but life was less settled for Watson, who found himself without a place to live as an eighth grader.
“I was 13 and crashed on Vergil’s couch,” says Watson. “I had to enroll myself into McKean.”
The ARV program became a place where both students thrived and made a name for themselves.
“It was the one place in school, or maybe even the one place in my life, where I felt like it was a real refuge,” says Watson.
Perry became known for his talent behind the camera, capturing perfect perspectives, and his editing ability. Watson, who was a proficient musician, emerged as a class leader in audio production, finding his place in front of the camera and the microphone.
“The level of production he exhibited as a sophomore and junior was such that by his senior year, you might as well just put him on payroll at a place because he was doing NPR-level work,” says Boulden.
The skills they learned in Boulden’s classroom and the network they built while they were in high school have helped them achieve professional success.
After graduation, Perry earned his BFA from the University of Delaware and worked behind the camera in a variety of roles in the audio and visual field. Today, he is a photographer and videographer for a Philadelphia-based advertising agency.
Watson devoted his time and energy to his music after graduating, putting his network to good use.
“Mr. Bolden hooked me up with one of his friends at a radio station, and my song played on the radio for the first time,” says Watson.
Watson now lives in Philadelphia and is a recording artist and producer with plans to self-release his album this year.
“Programs like the one that Mr. Bolden runs was a very, very positive thing for kids like me or kids who would be in similar situation to me,” says Watson. “There’s not a lot of love given to creative education, and we need more of it. We need more people like Mr. Boulden in the world.”
Above: Anaya Carter, Lenar Anderson and Rebecca Dadourian have fun during a practice session. Photos by Joe del Tufo