The newscast is winding down, but not before South Kitsap High School senior Marcos Sagrero issues a challenge to his fellow anchors.

It is the Monday morning following Cinco de Mayo and Sagrero offers a full mug of water to the first who can finish five jalapeños.

Sagrero wins the competition — classmate Sergio Lomeli-Flores only bites into one — and completes the newscast with a mouth full of peppers before quickly leaving the room.

“We didn’t have time to rehearse with the chili peppers,” Sagrero said. “It was improv in front of the camera. You’ve got to take some risks.”

It is what Mike Downum, who has built an award-winning program at South since being hired in 1997 as the school’s video instructor, likes to call “infotainment.” He frequently reminds students that they must present their material in a way that not only informs the audience, but also keeps them interested.

That objective has served the program well as Downum’s students received 11 nominations last year from the National Association of Television of Arts and Science Northwest High School Awards for Excellence.

Downum said he has steadily built it up since his arrival. The first program that aired in 1998 on BKAT — a public-access station SKTV formerly used — was “Wolf Tracks,” which video technician Matthew Swager, a 2005 South graduate, described as a feature-style magazine television program similar to KING-TV’s “Evening Magazine.”

Wolf Tracks remains one of the school’s anchor programs — they all are available through Wave Cable on Channel 205 — but it is just one of several features. Since June 2005, SKTV has produced it own local newscast each morning during the school year. With the high school as its backdrop, the show starts at 9:57 a.m. and runs for seven minutes.

In addition to co-anchoring Monday’s newscast, Sagrero said he also wrote it.

The jalapeño feature was the only story without a direct tie to the high school or school district. Sagrero opened the newscast with “Rachel’s Challenge” — a program centered on Rachel Scott, the first victim of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, that aims to create a chain reaction of kindness within schools.

This week’s theme is to say hello to as many people as possible, and Sagrero capped the segment by high-fiving Lomeli-Flores. Other stories, such as the search for commencement speakers and Advanced Placement testing in the library, were more sedate.

No specializing at South Kitsap

Unlike professional stations, where journalists often specialize, Downum requires his students to fill a variety of roles. He rotates them through positions, including anchoring, operating the teleprompter, developing public-service announcements and editing.

“They have to be competent in about a dozen steps,” he said, “beginning with hooking up a microphone.”

Ben Blankenship, a 2003 South graduate who went on to attend Pacific Lutheran University, worked at BKAT before returning to the high school as a paraeducator who works with students on video editing. He said the many facets of broadcasting attract a wide array of teenagers.

“You get the wannabe YouTube stars,” said Blankenship, adding that the class also is popular with students interested in graphic design and computers.

The mass-communications class also resonates with theater students. Sagrero takes both along with senior Cody Downey, who said that it fits with his future aspirations of becoming a video editor or movie director.

“I think (this class) helps me with being creative in theater,” Downey said.

Downum said the creative element sometimes goes a bit too far, though. He said one of the most popular elements of the class is the Canned Film Festival, where students write, act, direct and produce short videos.

Downum said those themes sometimes carry over to newscasts, where one student recently spent 27 hours to create a one-minute introduction with a “Star Wars” theme.

While he did not mind the work, Downum felt the rest of the newscast was lackluster.

“They missed some announcements,” he said.

Downum said the main focus of the class is covering news and that he has cut the timeframe on the Canned Film Project to about a month to help students maintain their focus.

That is not an issue for everyone, though. Strict professional standards regarding conflicts of interest are not applicable. For example, senior McKinzie Hunter said one of her favorite features was a story on the cheerleading squad, of which she is a member.

Because of the size of the school, Hunter said the number of good stories she can pursue “are endless.”

In addition to those activities, Downum said the class televises about a dozen live events each year, including home football games. A halftime show features analysis.

“While that’s going on, I’m managing the graphics,” Swager said. “Half of the fun is not screwing up.”

Downum said students prepare for that experience through their live broadcasts. They have about 20 minutes to practice in the morning before they’re on the air.

“Daily announcements are a nice deadline experience,” Downum said.

Cassie Armitage, a junior who hopes to pursue a career in broadcasting at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, found out about South’s program last year.

“I was surprised how organized it is,” she said. “My mom can watch it at home.”

Developing a program

It all started with Downum, 58. Beginning in 1987, he spent a decade at KOMO-TV as a photographer and special-projects producer.

“It pretty much was a burnout case,” he said. “I got tired of sensationalism. I didn’t feel good about the work I was doing.”

Meanwhile, Downum said South’s “forward thinking” career-technical education director at the time was looking to establish a mass-communications program. The school was equipped with a broadcast studio — the same one it uses now — but it was mothballed in 1983 and used as a storage room.

Downum said the increasing popularity of the Internet was gaining the notice of district officials.

“The convergence was becoming apparent,” he said.

That is why Downum’s classes are called mass communications rather than broadcast. Video of some of his students’ work is available on the school district’s website. He noted that one former student now in the forestry field uses the skills he gained to shoot outdoors videos.

Downum said he is proud of what the program has accomplished. About 10 former students are studying broadcast at WSU, which he believes is related to the success of South’s program. But he also warns students that the media increasingly is becoming a difficult field to enter.

“I feel sympathy for you,” said Downum, referring to the message he relays to students about the job market. “You’ve got to be excellent no matter what your pathway is.”