Every Thursday morning during SMART period, students and staff come together to watch the weekly broadcast of Redwood TV. Each episode provides information about the school’s upcoming events and includes comedic sketches, sports game information, weather updates and more. Redwood TV offers an escape from a student’s busy academic life and allows them to be informed through a light-hearted news source. One of the main ways Redwood TV keeps their audience engaged is through their student cast, made up of nine seniors who each present different segments alongside their co-hosts. Redwood TV’s crew recently chose next season’s cast after thoroughly reviewing each application. Here are next year’s Redwood TV hosts.

Aiko Nahas

Junior Aiko Nahas is going to be one of the main anchors next year. Nahas has enjoyed watching Redwood TV since freshman year, which influenced her decision to apply. As main anchor, Nahas hopes to create engaging segments for the entire Redwood community by filming interesting and important events. 

“Ever since Freshman year I have  always adored Redwood TV,” Nahas said.  

Overall, Nahas wants to be able to reach out and engage with students every week and is very thrilled to do so. Nahas hopes to keep the Redwood community informed during her time on screen. In addition, she plans to be a familiar face to those who are new students at Redwood next year whether she is on or off screen. 

“I just wanted to be a part of [Redwood TV] and be someone who could talk to the whole school,” Nahas said. 

Jack Sinatra

Alongside Nahas, junior Jack Sinatra will also be a main anchor next year. Sinatra became interested in becoming a part of Redwood TV after a few of his friends previously involved in the program suggested he join, as a fun activity they could all do together. Though Sinatra already has some friends on the crew, he is excited to develop new friendships with the other hosts.

“I am really excited about my crew. I don’t know all of them yet, but I know that I am going to have a lot of good people on the crew,” Sinatra said.  

Kylie Horstmeyer

Inspired by her love of sports, junior Kylie Horstmeyer applied to be one of the sports anchors next year, and was granted the position. Horstmeyer believes that Redwood TV is going to expand her academic and social interests outside of the classroom and the basketball court. Horstmeyer has been a committed student-athlete all of her life, playing several different sports, but mainly focusing on basketball. Her background knowledge will help increase the credibility in the sports segment which is known for their comical sketches and game edits. Although Horstmeyer is eager to start filming for next season, she is also nervous about how the Redwood community might react to her on the screen. 

“I am nervous to be in front of the school every week, because from not being in Redwood TV now, I know that people can judge Redwood TV, and be like, ‘Oh, why did she say it like that?’ or ‘She mispronounced that word,’ so I am nervous for that part,” Horstmeyer said.

Nonetheless, Horstmeyer is excited to start as sports host next season. 

Asher Jacobs

Junior Asher Jacobs will be Horstmeyer’s co-host in the sports segment for Redwood TV. Jacobs is also an experienced athlete who has played many different sports, including baseball, and is eager to start filming Redwood TV next season. Jacobs auditioned to become a part of Redwood TV because he wants to make each episode worth watching. 

“[I hope] to make Redwood TV something that everybody looks forward to, and not just something that people have to watch, which I haven’t really experienced during my time here,” Jacobs said.

  Jacobs hopes to gain real-life experiences from his time as part of the Redwood TV cast. Jacobs believes that this class will provide him with new knowledge that he will be able to carry with him throughout his college career and beyond. 

“I want to become comfortable on camera, and I want to become more comfortable just speaking around people in general. That’s something I want to do going forward in life,” Jacobs said.

Ben Donick

Following in his older sister Katie Donick’s footsteps, Junior Ben Donick will be hosting a segment called Giant of the Week. This segment was started by Donick’s older sister but was eventually stopped, as she did not continue the class during her last year at Redwood. Knowing the importance of covering underrepresented student passions, Donick decided to bring back the segment. Donick hopes to widen his social horizons through the new segment. 

“Every week we are meant to meet someone new, so I get to meet a lot of new people who I don’t usually talk to and get to understand the culture a little better here,” Donick said. 

Donick believes that his experience on Redwood TV might lead to him developing a new passion in film, as he has never participated in an activity like Redwood TV before. The main goal for Donick next year is to make Giant of the Week a staple segment on Redwood TV.  

“I think the biggest goal is to have a funny segment that people enjoy watching every Thursday, not just have [the Giant of the Week segment] be background noise,” Donick said.

Dominic Wyllie 

Junior Dominic Wyllie will also be introducing the new segment Giant of the Week with his co-host, Donick. Wyllie decided to audition because he wanted to take a risk, as he has never done anything like Redwood TV before. He hopes that Redwood TV will allow him to step outside of his comfort zone and explore new interests. Wyllie is passionate about hosting Giant of the Week because he wants to meet new people who deserve exposure on a platform like Redwood TV, as it highlights Redwood student’s specific traits. 

“[I am excited to] meet new people, not only in other grade levels but also the Redwood TV crew, that not enough people see,” Wyllie said.

Wyllie hopes that he and Donick can also bring some comedy to Giant of the Week to add an entertainment factor. 

Marco Lizarraga

The forecast is looking sunny, with junior Marco Lizarraga taking on the role of weatherman next year. Lizarraga decided to audition for the role of weatherman as a way for him to make an impact before graduating next spring. 

“I hope to put my all into this project as my last going away, my last ‘hurrah,’ and this seems like the best platform for me to do that,” Lizarraga said. 

Lizarraga is already working with the weather crew team on ways to reinvent the role of weatherman, and they cannot wait to start filming. Lizarraga’s main goal is to go outside of the box and reinvent the weatherman’s role on Redwood TV. He came into this role understanding its comedic legacy and believes he can take on the challenge.  

“In terms of being funny and sarcastic, I will bring everything I have to that role and keep that legacy going,” Lizarraga said. 

Zachary Berston

Initially trying out for Redwood TV’s weatherman, junior Zachary Berston will instead be a part of the culture segment on Redwood TV. Berston is very enthusiastic about filming and creating content for the Redwood TV, because he has experience creating videos for his friends and family.

“I really like making entertaining things for my friends, like entertaining videos, so I think Redwood TV ties right into that,” Berston said. 

Though Berston had wanted to be the weatherman before being granted the culture host position, he was extremely happy to hear he received any position at all. The lengthy application and audition process involves a large amount of juniors who apply, making the competition that much harder. 

“When I got culture I just texted all my friends immediately and told them all about it,” Berston said. 

Now, as a part of the culture segment, Berston already has ideas for next season’s episodes. 

“I am excited to capture the essence of Redwood culture through film and editing,” Berston said.

Ciara Colicci

Planning to revive the culture segment on Redwood TV is junior Ciara Colicci. Colicci has always enjoyed Redwood TV, but decided to join to push herself outside of her comfort zone. Colicci hopes to expand her comfort zone and gain more confidence. 

“I definitely hope to gain better speaking skills and more confidence, because you are on a screen in front of your whole school every Thursday and you have to be able to put yourself out there and know that you could be scrutinized,” Colicci said. 

In addition, Colicci hopes to take another approach to the culture segment while still adding some light-hearted fun to it. Instead of showing Redwood TV viewers places and sites, Collici hopes to also show off the students of Redwood. 

“I want to bring[the culture segment] to showing people’s jobs and volunteering, and showing people outside of the community doing something bigger than themselves,” Colicci said.

Tune in to Redwood TV every Thursday during SMART period next year to see the new crew members hosting their segments.