Penn-Trafford students prepare to air 'Wishes for Warriors' telethon

Penn-Trafford High School’s third annual Make-a-Wish telethon has already granted one child’s wish, even though it won’t be broadcast until Dec. 19.

“We have already raised more than $5,000 in less than two weeks,” said Steve Vinton, high school video production teacher. “Last year we raised $60,000 and granted 13 wishes for local kids.”

For Vinton’s students, it’s all about proper preparation.

“The script is the biggest challenge, and everything is timed to the minute,” said senior Taylor Boulware, 17. “Last year someone showed up and said they had to go on the air right now. And so during the next commercial break we had to scramble and shuffle things around.”

In one corner of the video production room there is a giant white board with commercial sponsors, segments and assignments stuck all over it. It will provide a rough road map for the telethon, which is entirely student-produced and features interviews and video of a variety of special events happening in district schools.

“We’ll have segments like a song from one of the elementary band concerts,” Vinton said. “My students are going all over the district and getting video that we’ll run during the course of the telethon.

Below, watch last year’s telethon.

One thing Vinton has learned? Have plenty of material, more than you think you’ll need.

It’s a lesson he learned the hard way.

“The first year, I had everything scripted out and thought, ‘I have four hours of content’ — and I actually had three-and-a-half,” he said. “I was literally running to (band director) Mr. Cornelius’ office begging him to have someone get onstage and play some Christmas music. While they were doing that, we were scrambling to feed video into the system to give ourselves a breather.

“No one sees that stuff that happens behind the scene, but it was craziness,” he said.

For senior Max Haberberger, this year’s telethon will give him the chance he missed last year to bring his infectious energy in front of the camera — and to indulge in a little sibling rivalry.

“Last year I had a concussion and I wasn’t in school when the telethon was happening,” Haberberger said. “I’m really looking forward to, well, not hamming it up as a host, but I’m excited to host.”

He then added, after a moment of thought: “And to do it better than my sister (Maddy), who hosted it before.”

The 2019 Wishes for Warriors telethon will be Dec. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be streamed live through the high school’s website as well as on YouTube and Facebook.