On every radio and TV across the country, there’s always a channel playing the news 24/7. While there is no official Chamblee news outlet, Chamblee High School’s action news club hopes to remedy this. The club strives to inform Chamblee’s student body about newsworthy current events and its members are training to be up and coming reporters. 

“The news has existed at Chamblee since I first started teaching here, so we’ve been doing the news every year,” said Hakim Felts, the action news club teacher sponsor. 

The news club does interviews with many students where they discuss topics of current events at Chamblee or things going on in the local community. 

“Lately, I’ve been filming interviews of people who ran for SGA council and asking people about their high school experience,” said Shruti Nainwal (‘24), a second-year member of the Action News Club. 

These interviews also give a diverse group of opinions from the average students. 

“[The club’s videos] bring attention to the normal students, ” said club member Aaryan Thakkar (‘24).

The club also interviews teachers to learn more about them and their lives.

“My favorite interview I have done so far is with Mrs. Holland, the librarian. It wasn’t really an interview but she gave us a synopsis on her book clubs,” said Nainwal. 

The interviewers also get student and teacher opinions on what’s happening in the school community.

“It’s fun seeing how everybody is adapting to the new school environment, ” said Thakkar.

Mr. Felt’s personal favorite video was a previous interview done with members of the JROTC [Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps] program.

“They haven’t done very many interviews this year, but in previous years they interviewed the JROTC teachers and really gave a really in-depth interview for them. Also, the robotics team, they did an interview with those guys two years ago, and did a really great job with that,” said Felts.

While the broadcast news team mostly does interviews and daily news reports, sometimes they compete in film competitions against other schools. 

“Our broadcast news team has actually made it to state […] five out of the six years that I’ve been here,” said Felts.

The action news club also inspired another club at Chamblee, the film club, which focuses on creating more short films and original videos.

“Over the past few years, the film club has competed in several different film festivals. Two years ago, they competed in the DeKalb Film Festival and their film was aired at one of the theaters in Atlanta,” said Felts.

Both clubs use the fully equipped film studio at Chamblee to make their films and news broadcasts. 

“[The studio’s] on the fourth floor. It has cameras, a green screen, nice jackets to wear, and a table, just like in a local news channel. It is connected to Mr. Felts’s room on the fourth floor,” said Nainwal.

Even after filming interviews and recording videos in the studio, the club members’ work is not complete. The news club then edits the videos and posts them online.

“On the Chamblee High School YouTube, you can look at all the action news. Older students on my team film in the studio here at school about daily news, such as the parking spots, what’s going on with sports, and athletes of the week,” said Nainwal.

These older students not only work hard to make short films and record interviews, but they also direct the younger students and give them their assignments. 

“I empower my students to be leaders, and so those students who are upperclassmen now that have been with me since they were like in ninth grade, I pretty much allowed them to lead the meeting. I don’t really have to say much. I talk to them prior to the meeting and let them know some things I think they should cover,” said Felts. 

Overall, the Action News club opens up many different opportunities, whether they are interested in filming, public speaking, or any other lessons learned through reporting. 

“I love seeing their growth and how much they advance and get better as they work in a craft. I love to see how much they really enjoy it,” said Felts.