LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / September 13, 2000

DESTREHAN – It takes a lot of hard work to make TV production look glamorous, but students in Donnie Diodene’s class at Destrehan High School make it look easy.

The program itself had its start from a 1994 independent study by student Ryan Walker, with a boost from then-principal Rusty Walker. With assistancefrom Cox Cable, the program got off the ground in the 1996-1997 school year under instructor Stephanie Ward. Present instructor Donnie Diodenecame on board the following year.

On this particular day a school news program was being prepped for taping, and Candace Denoux and Terrel Addrict were on the news desk. Out ofcamera range, Jennifer Westmoreland and Danielle Menge prepped the teleprompter and camera.

In the control room Stephen St. Pierre and Michael Guidry adjusted the lightsand sound levels. Production assistant Crystal Taormina offered somemakeup to soften Denoux’s skin tone for the camera.

It was a beehive of activity, but everyone knew their tasks and brought a professional determination to crafting a quality broadcast.

“The more faith you instill in them, the better results you get,” Diodene said.

His faith is justified daily, as the classes he teaches, TV-1 and TV-2, learn everything from the technical skills for shooting, editing and broadcasting, to the “hidden” skills of teamwork, responsibility and dedication.

“I am very demanding, and they give it in return,” Diodene said. “It surprisesme sometimes how well they work together.”The Destrehan High news team prepares a live daily news program with the morning announcements, covers special events from football games to Christmas programs, works with Homework Hotline and even undertakes outside projects.

One such project was a 15-minute tape geared for an elementary school audience on how to react in case of a chemical release. The project, forNalco Chemical, included not only brief remarks from St. John the BaptistParish Department of Civil Defense head Bertram Madere, but also a brief skit depicting wrong behavior (the “Badnoodle” family) and correct behavior (the “Bayflower” family).

“You turn them loose on a project and they take pride in it,” he said.

Diodene himself originally wanted to be a high school history teacher but was bitten by the broadcast bug at Northwestern State University, where he earned a degree in broadcast journalism.

After five years of working in low-paying, high-stress radio jobs he went back to college, earned his teaching certification and soon found himself at Destrehan High School, where he is also an assistant boys’ basketball coach.

“They keep me busy,” Diodene said with a smile.

Even with 120 students in the two classes – 30 in the advanced TV-2 class, there’s always a waiting list for students to take the classes.

However, he stressed the classes are not easy and students must take on long hours, hard work and a greater sense of responsibility.

“They also see the responsibility the media has,” said Diodene. “We also talkabout copyright law, libel and slander.”Along the way they also develop a rapport with Diodene, which guides them to budding professionalism. “When we do a production,” he said, “they’re notstudents, they’re colleagues.”In this effort Diodene enjoys cooperation and enthusiastic support from the St. Charles School Board central office, principal Chipper Simon, fellowfaculty members and the business community in general.

What happens is an experience which may lead many of his students toward a broadcast career, already grounded in everything from camera safety to proper behavior in a newsroom. Already, some 30 former students of his arenow pursuing broadcast careers.

“They say they can’t watch TV the same way again,” he said. “My big thing isreal-life application. I try to make it as real as possible.”

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