One Sessions, a WT student run production event, received its first Bronze Telly award for their 2011 overall video production that showcased Natalie Schlabs.

“It’s a symbol of creative excellence … in a production level,” KWTS radio General Manager Wilson Lemieux said.

The Telly awards take 11,000 people from all 50 states and other countries and pick the top 25 percent of the submitted work and give out awards.

“I don’t think many people understand,” Lemiuex said, “People need to realize how wonderful our program is.”

Director for the Broadcasting Department, Randy Ray has been working at WT for almost ten years.
“My goal for the broadcasting electronic media students is to get them prepared for the real world,” Ray said, “I have to take them from being a high school student to a professional and I have four years to do it.”

Ray said his ultimate goal is to foster their passion for mass communications and get them prepared for the industry.

“When [students received awards] it makes me remember why I went into teaching into in the first place,” Ray said.

According to Ray, people in the Mass Communication field in the Panhandle area, are not encouraged.
“It’s something [people in the area] don’t understand,” Ray said, “When we see something like One Sessions win an award, it’s proof that you can dream big.”

Sheryl Procter received the Silver and Bronze Telly award for Low Budget Production and People’s Choice for her editing work of the documentary Shedding Ignorance, about the WT Readership program’s journey to Cambodia. Proctor said winning the Telly award is one of the highest honors in the Mass Communication field as a college student.

“You’re competing against bigger named schools with twice the staff, time and money with half of the budget and better equipment,” Proctor said, “Sometimes, in the case of my Telly award, you’re competing with professionals rather than other colleges.”

For Proctor, One Sessions are not just a production to broadcast for awards. It’s a chance to grow professionally.

“Many people don’t see all of the planning and work that goes into this production,” Proctor said. “This show is a professionally run event and the students that participate in it grow tremendously as a professional.”