A Carmel High School student’s project for his Carmel High TV class turned into a documentary on the station itself.
The one-hour program by junior Jack Ringenberg will debut at 5 p.m. May 19 in the CHTV classroom at the school.
Ringenberg, who began his research in November 2022, said every semester students in the CHTV elective course make long-format projects that must be at least seven minutes in length. While working on his first semester project, he decided he wanted to focus on the history of CHTV during the second semester but found very little information about it.
“Prior to the documentary, no one really knew when CHTV started,” Ringenberg said. “That was really my driving question. When was CHTV started? Why was it started?”
CHTV advisor Brandy Ostojic expressed amazement with the extent of Ringenberg’s efforts to thoroughly research the topic. Ostojic enjoyed that it brought back familiar faces to the classroom.
“My former colleagues who came in to interview were super excited to come back,” Ostojic said. “Mr. Espey was excited to be back. It’s cool that he’s bringing everyone back into the fold.”
Hal Espey is the founder of CHTV. He was among the several CHS staff and alumni that Ringenberg has tracked down to uncover the program’s history, some of whom are featured in the documentary.
Ringenberg said he hopes to show viewers of the documentary how to think critically about the history of something they love.
“I want this documentary to be something that can last for 20 or 30 years and then I want someone to remake it someday with updated information,” Ringenberg said.
The public can watch the film at jackringenberg.com and on the YouTube channel @jacksportfolio.
