St. Cloud Tech High School Wins Six Regional Media Awards; Senior Named Top AV Student in Upper Midwest

(KNSI) – St. Cloud Tech High School’s Morning Show students have once again demonstrated their exceptional talent and dedication, bringing home six awards from the Upper Midwest Foundation’s Student Production Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The wins add to an impressive track record that now totals 20 awards over six seasons of competition. According to District 742, these achievements serve as a testament to the program’s commitment to providing students with real-world media production experience while developing the next generation of broadcast professionals.

Senior Alex Schaefer received the coveted AV All-Star Award, recognizing him as the top audiovisual student across the entire five-state Upper Midwest region. This prestigious honor highlights Schaefer’s exceptional contributions to the program throughout his high school career.

The “Who Am I?” project emerged as a standout success, earning awards in multiple categories:

Music Video Award: Alex Schaefer (Producer) and Andrew Bares (Director) collaborated to create this compelling piece that captured the judges’ attention.

Animation/Graphics/Special Effects Award: Benjamin Keil and Theodore Klaverkamp brought their creative vision to life through outstanding graphics animation work.

Editor Award: The same duo of Benjamin Keil and Theodore Klaverkamp also earned recognition for their editing excellence.

Photographer Award: Maren Inkster, Jonathan Hegge, and Benjamin Keil were honored for their exceptional cinematography.

The Tech High School Promo earned an award in the Promotional Video category, showcasing the collaborative efforts of producer Umayma Abdi and photographers Andrew Bares, Jonathan Hegge, Maren Inkster, Benjamin Keil, LiYun Nelson, and Alex Schaefer.

Several other projects received nominations.

Magazine Program Nominee: “Tech Morning Show” S6/E3 featured contributions from 13 talented students across hosting, reporting, writing, editing, and photography roles.

Commercial Nominee: The Tech HS Yearbook Commercial highlighted the skills of director Bisharo Bashir and hosts Ihtithal Yusuf, Ilhan Abdullahi, Sabrin Ismail, and Nasteho Adan.

Director Nominee: Umayma Abdi earned recognition for her directorial work on the Tech High School Promo, alongside advisor Matthew Keil.

Photographer Nominee: Sayvon Spears and Justin Mancera were recognized for their work on the “Parking Garage” project.

Writer Nominee: Tucker Collette, Kacilynn Dobbs, and Andrew Bares received a nomination for their creative writing on “Bad Lip Reading of Chucky.”

All regional award winners will automatically advance to national competition, with National Student Production Award winners to be announced in fall 2025.

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