Category Archives: Good Happenings
Frozen T-Shirt Control 101
As a member of the West Virginia SADD Student Leadership Council, we have retreats to plan out the annual conference. This year, our retreat is at Pipestem Resort State Park. It’s now day 2 of our leadership retreat.
Pipestem has many activities, but you would never guess just which activity caused the yellow caution tape to be placed where a window was at one time. Believe it or not, it was not ping pong. Our council was participating in an icebreaker that of which a small group must open a t-shirt that has been dipped in water and frozen. It is each group’s goal to open the frozen t-shirt in the shortest amount of time and have one of the group members wear it.
Everything was going alright until a t-shirt was placed in a bag and slung against a stone wall. I first thought that is was a great idea since much of the ice would break off. The only unforseen problem was that the bag had a hole in it. I happened to turn around at just the moment that the t-shirt released from the confines of the bag and went through the glass window. Although the young lady that broke the glass didn’t find the whole ordeal amusing, the rest of us are left with a nice memory of trying to explain to a security guard that “a frozen t-shirt when through the window.”
Christian Martine Named Sports P.A. Announcer of the Year
A graduating high school senior in West Virginia, who is already handling announcer duties for state basketball playoffs, has been named the 2009-2010 P.A. Student Announcer of the Year by the National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers (NASPAA). The NASPAA P.A. Announcer of the Year Awards Program provides high schools and colleges the opportunity to pay tribute to their P.A. announcers.
Besides announcing boys and girls basketball for Shady Spring High School, Martine has also announced West Virginia boys basketball state playoffs for the past three years. He has received NASPAA P.A. announcing certification.
“I was ecstatic and felt deeply honored when I heard that I was selected for the award,” remarked Martine. “It’s wonderful to receive such a great honor for doing something that I love.”
“Christian is determined to be non-biased and promote good sportsmanship,” said Deanna Wood, Martine’s athletic director for Shady Spring (WV) High School. “He carefully prepares for each event and works with coaches to make sure he correctly pronounces each player’s name.”
“This year’s award recipient has distinguished himself by the quality of his announcing and his professionalism,” commented Brad Rumble, NASPAA Executive Director. “The NASPAA is delighted to be in a position to recognize Christian. He truly represents the best in P.A. announcing.”
The NASPAA is a professional association for sports public address announces with a mission to raise the level of professionalism of announcing. The awards program is sponsored by Clell Wade Coaches Directory and Balfour.
Click here to view the press release.
View soundbites on the NASPAA Web site or here.
“Christian Martine, Reporting” – High School Senior Project
To top off my senior year, I was required to complete a senior project. The project had to be in a field that I have little to no experience, but have a great interest. I chose television broadcast journalism. Working alongside WVNS-TV news anchor Martin Staunton, I gained a greater knowledge of the many steps one must take to report the news.
I presented my product, a packaged news story, and the steps needed to complete the product to a panel of my peers and local community members. Below is a video of the presentation I gave:
Check out the H1N1 story broadcast-quality, the bloopers, and the slides from the PowerPoint presentation below:
Christian Martine, Reporting – H.S. Senior Project PowerPoint Presentation Slides
Shady Spring seniors take next step
May 29, 2010
Shady Spring seniors take next step
Around 208 Shady Spring High School students were handed diplomas amid air horns and cheers Friday evening at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Forty-six students graduated with honors, and at the top of their class were valedictorian Lukas Meadows, salutatorian Christian Martine and honorarian Amna Khan.
Meadows told students to be prepared for the future and not be afraid to use the power to shape one’s destiny.
“If we have determination, nothing is beyond our grasp,” he said. “It is now time to take our inspiration and run with it. Everyone has the potential to change the country and the world.”
Martine told his fellow graduates to be proud of their accomplishments but to also be proud of their heritage.
“When we enter the workforce or college or whatever life brings you, we should never have people tell us that we are less intelligent,” he said. “We are from a great state and we are proud to be Mountaineers.”
Kahn reminisced about her time in the jazz band and told students to not be afraid to realize their true potential.
“Shady Spring High School brings me the most pride through its people,” she said. “Every single student here has the potential to be great.”
Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Charlotte Hutchens accepted the class of 2010 and said she was happy to be there for this “special time.”
“This is such a special time because I can look at these wonderful graduates and see our future,” she said.
Graduate Lucas Hart says he is not sad at all about graduation and looks forward to starting his life in the coal mines.
“I’m relieved this is over and I’m glad to be out of school,” he said. “After this, I’m going straight to get my 80-hour mining class.”
View speech: “The Mountaineer”
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez
Dating back hundreds of years, town criers were responsible for broadcasting news to citizens who could neither read nor write. In modern times, town criers are a novelty. Criers in court, however, are still used everywhere from city courts to the Supreme Court.
This spring, I was a competitor in the West Virginia We the People Oratorical Competition with some of my classmates. Before handing out the awards, my teacher asked me to “cry in the judge.” For anyone who knows how much I like to speak, it isn’t a surprise that I enjoyed it. I have posted the words below:
All rise.
OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ.
Silence is now commanded in the courtroom under penalty of fine and imprisonment, while the Honorable Irene C. Berger, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, is presiding.
All those with motions to make, pleas to enter, or actions to prosecute, come forward and you shall be heard.
God save the United States of America and this honorable court.
Please be seated and come to order.
(And my team won, by the way.)
Touchless Direction
For my birthday a couple of years ago, I received a Nextar GPS. Surprising to me, it has been one gadget that I am very happy that I own. The only downside to any GPS is the fact it doesn’t have a sense for knowing when roads disappear.
With that in mind, I considered purchasing a newer GPS model, but decided to go online to try to update the maps for my Nextar M3. I expected to dish out between $50 and $70 for the updated maps. When I visited the Nextar site, I found a happy surprise. Although they do not offer map updates to my Nextar model, they do offer the Nextar Product Exchange program. Long story short, I send them my Nextar M3 and a $90 check and they send me the new Q4-MD, Nextar’s newest feature-packed GPS model retailed at $299.99.
Nextar is not the first (or even second) company I think of for a GPS, but I urge anyone who already has an elderly Nextar to consider this new program.
March for Babies
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I’m walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
Please support my walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just visit www.marchforbabies.org/christianmartine. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
Christian Martine, CPAA
For the past few years, I have had the opportunity to be the public address announcer for a variety of sports events around West Virginia. The last couple of years have been especially rewarding, for I have announced for my high school’s boys and girls basketball teams.
I have always loved speaking, so I immediately fell in love with public address announcing. One thing about this practice, however, is that there are very few resources to become a better announcer (so I thought.) I came across NASPAA (National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers) which gave me the tools I needed to further develop my skills. One such tool is their Certified Public Address Announcer (CPAA) program. Through this course, I learned everything from how to be a more impartial announcer to which microphones work best in different settings.
If you’re a public address announcer, I would highly recommend you check out the NASPAA Web site and learn more about all of the resources that this organization can offer. By the way, if you happen to need a certified public address announcer, shoot me an email!
I’m Legal!
I have always looked forward to this day, but cannot believe that it is finally here. 18 comes with responsibilities, but also with it comes many great benefits. For instance, I’m now able to run for the House (just saying).
As I transition from high school to college, I pray that my future will be as great as my past as I continue to work toward achieving my dreams.
A Lucky Announcement
Last Tuesday, I went with my dad to watch the Citadel play West Virginia University in basketball. They were playing at the Charleston Civic Center, so it was only about a 90-minute drive.
When we went into the Civic Center, Dad saw that they were giving away posters of the basketball team. We were already in line to enter the arena when he discovered this, and I was reluctant to exit the line. Nevertheless, we went over to pick up a poster. While we were there, there were free raffle tickets to enter a drawing for an unknown prize. Dad and I both filled out one, mostly out of habit. We never actually expected anything out of it…
About half way through the first quarter, the announcer plugs United Bank (West Virginia’s Bank) and then goes on to say, “The United Bank lucky fan of the Game is Christian Martine of Daniels. You’ve won two tickets to the Ohio State vs. West Virginia game. See a representative from United Bank behind section 212 to claim your prize…”
Now, for the first few seconds, I really didn’t respond. It took a confirmation from my dad for me to realize that I was the winner. Once it set in, I jumped up and rushed over to claim the tickets. This will definitely be a game I’ll always remember. Beating out 13,000 other fans was definitely odds I never expected.
