Eight Shady Side Academy students can call themselves Emmy winners after the school’s WSSA-TV Film Club earned a trophy in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) 2020 Mid-Atlantic High School Production competition.
The Student Emmy was awarded for a short-form video, “Grateful for Our Teachers,” which features students reading letters of gratitude to the teachers who inspired them, alongside surprised staff listening on.
The award-winning team includes seniors George Grune of Fox Chapel, Nina Singh of Monroeville, Tony Zhang of China, Arusha Nirvan of Murrysville and Mason Tomlin of Squirrel Hill; juniors Annabel Everett of Fox Chapel and junior Eve Mango of Pine Township; and sophomore Andy Marous of Fox Chapel.
The WSSA-TV faculty/staff advisor is visual media manager James Knox.
“Winning the Emmy this year is very rewarding after putting so much time into WSSA the past three years,” said Grune, who served as the director and editor.
“I’m very pleased with the work the team has done and how much we have grown since the club began only three years ago. The Emmy win is devoted to not only the teachers in (the video), but also those who are the backbone of SSA.”
WSSA-TV’s “Thank You Teachers” was one of three winners in the awards’ Short Form category.
Subject matter can include examinations of social issues, personal relationships, sports and music, among others.
The video was conceived during the school’s Philosophy of Happiness course, Grune said, during which teacher Kyle Smith discusses the direct correlation between expressing gratitude and personal happiness.
“After the class, all of us decided to make more conscious and consistent effort to appreciate the unrivaled opportunities at Shady Side,” Grune said.
This is WSSA’s first Student Emmy award and its second nomination in two years.
A team of TV students earned a nod last year in the News category for coverage of the school’s response to gun violence in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.
