Lights, Camera, Cleveland: 'Storm Chasers' bring sports, media coverage to students

RIO RANCHO - It's official: I am worried about my job security. 

New Mexico’s newest stars in the media world aren’t located at a newspaper or television station, but at Cleveland High School.

The student group “Storm Chasers” is redefining a typical high school AV club, creating new types of media and coverage in just their second year of operation.

“We formed the film club last year,” Club President Adianna Esparza said. “But this year we have a lot of new members who are really interested in coverage.”

This new coverage includes Storm sporting events, led by Gabe Martinez and Kendall Kinnuneen. Off the field, Danica Sandoval and Isaiah Loera document the happenings through the Cleveland school halls, including segments such as “Fit Check Friday”. 

The Storm Chasers have also focused on expanding their online presence, with Ivory Lobato taking on the task of social media chair.

This evolution of the club comes from the students' genuine interest in new projects, with a lot of these passion projects adding to a dream of one day taking them from hobby to career.

“I'm going to be going to New Mexico State next year, and I'm going to major in film,” Esparza said. “So it's definitely my passion to be a part of these types of projects in the future.”

For others, their role in the club has been an eye-opening experience of the possibilities. 

“I didn't know what I wanted to do when it came to college,” Kinnuneen said. “But now that I'm here (in the club), I realize that filming video, or something around that, is what I want to do for the future.”

Kinnuneen has put together several videos on Storm football during their championship season, along with Martinez conducting interviews with players and fans at Lightning Bolt Stadium.

The Storm Chasers are not only grateful to have access to top-tier equipment and their platform, but the connections and opportunities they have here in New Mexico. Some of those come through their teacher mentor, Kyle Norby.

“They're a great group of kids. I've been teaching film and video here for two years. I taught photography in Arizona for three years, but I worked in news, and I have a lot of family that works here in the industry.” Norby said.”This is stuff you can literally take right out into the industry, working in news and TV. A lot of these kids could hop in there now and hop on the tri-casters and all the tech that they have, all the broadcasting equipment, and literally be working at the same studio I did. It's really cool to see, and I'm very proud of them.”

Even with morning announcements, filming sporting events and weekly video uploads, the Storm Chasers show no signs of slowing down. More projects are in the works, including a podcast planned for the Storm Chaser YouTube channel, spearheaded by Maliya Etsate.

“I do want to start a podcast,” Estate said. “Just to grow our YouTube channel a little more, so it's not just our morning announcements and just sports highlights. I want to give some more diverse content to people who are interested in looking into our channel.”

So next time you are at a Cleveland High event, perhaps bring a Sharpie and ask for an autograph. The future stars of television and cinema may be right in front of you.

“If you have never done film, even if you didn't know you would be interested in it, we're always doing fun activities,” Esparza said. “You could always come over and just experience what it's like to work with this equipment, to go out and film the football games, to film the announcements. It's just a good experience to have and maybe discover something about yourself that you didn't know.”