The Penn-Trafford Video Department has been preparing for their annual telethon since the middle of October and has been especially persistent throughout the first few weeks of December in order to make sure the event runs as smoothly as possible.

All proceeds collected through the telethon will go directly towards the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which provides wishes for children between the ages of 2 and eighteen suffering from a critical illness.

TV & Film Production teacher Steve Vinton stated, “Last year I think we granted 13 wishes, so this year we’d like to do more than that. Each wish is about $4400 according to Make-A-Wish, so if we hit our goal, we’re looking at 14 wishes.”

In order to raise as much money as possible for the organization, the video department and schools throughout the district have worked together to provide ample content and potential funding opportunities. This includes recording events occurring in schools around the district, such as the elementary schools writing letters to Santa for Macy’s Believe program, which also funds the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and encouraging local businesses to consider donating.

The money raised through these activities are used by P-T to grant children’s wishes within the Greater Pittsburgh area.
Alongside receiving help from the community, students at the high school were able to sign up to perform in the telethon. By doing so, the program offered a variety of entertainment and showcases student talent to all viewers.

Students in the film and TV classes also had an opportunity to showcase their classwork through news packages, short films or commercials while an additional multitude helped to produce, direct and host the telethon.
Unlike past years, the works of the telethon were divided into small hour-long or half-hour long increments in order to give students different opportunities within the production while also giving them time to relax, as some jobs are more involved and stressful than others.

Senior Madison Kerrigan said, “It’s something that we’ve been working on since October. There’s so much that goes into it and then it’s all put into four hours.”

Additionally, this year’s telethon featured social media managers to offer a more interactive experience to those viewing from different social media platforms, like Facebook or Twitter.

Vinton explained, “This will help not only monitor the streams to make sure they’re working, but to interact with any comments we get. Because social media is such a huge part of media now, we are going to try to incorporate it and let viewers let us know where they’re watching from and we might be able to put a greeting or a thank you up, just to get more viewer engagement.”

Senior Taylor Boulware, a four-year member of the video department, explained that she had helped with the first ever telethon in 2017 and that watching it grow and become what it was this year was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.

“It gets better every single year. It’s very important to me for it to be very successful because it holds such a special place in my heart, being that I was of the people that helped from the beginning,” Boulware said.

Kerrigan agreed, saying, “This is only my second [telethon], but I think this year is probably the biggest it has ever been. People do know about it, so it’s special to see all of our hard work showcased to an audience.”

The telethon has provided Make-A-Wish with all collected funds and will continue to make the P-T Christmas season one of making the community a better place.