Katie Keenan, of Hackettstown, recently earned her proudest professional accomplishment – she accepted a position as a photojournalist and video editor for WFMZ-TV 69 News. Kennan is excited to begin her career journey and credits the education she received at Warren County Technical School (WCTS) for giving her the tools to succeed.
Keenan studied in the Television – Radio and Digital Media program at WCTS for all four years of high school. She said her instructor, Patricia Seugling, taught all aspects of the broad media industry to ensure that each student was well-prepared and could explore their creativity. The program’s topics included lessons on radio and audio production, video editing, news production, segment production, different production roles, and more.
Keenan graduated from WCTS in 2020 with a 3.9 grade point average (GPA) and was in the top ten of her class. While attending the program, she earned second place in the NJ SkillsUSA competition for Radio/Audio Production. She also created two short films called “Bittersweet” and “Self” which were official selections in the Lyte in the Dark Film Festival, screened at the Princeton Garden Theater, and aired on The Fish Bowl on NJ Comcast channels. After graduation, Keenan continued her education at East Stroudsburg University (ESU).
“While I’ve always been aware that my education at Warren County Technical School was excellent, it became much clearer to me once I began college,” said Keenan. “I realized that the curriculum and education at WCTS was much more impressive in terms of bestowing equipment knowledge, project quality, and work ethic. I was exceeding my class assignments the moment I began college since I had been given such an intensive and thorough education at WCTS.”
At college, Keenan’s short film, “I Want to Cut My Hair,” won the ESU’s 2023 Media Fair in the video category. The contest was judged by television writer Evan Romansky, creator of Netflix’s Ratched. She graduated summa cum laude a semester early, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in digital media technologies with a concentration in television and video production.
“While I know there is so much more to be accomplished within my career, these initial accomplishments give me an immense amount of gratitude for the education and support that I have received,” said Kennan. “The WCTS Television – Radio and Digital program was my home, and my classmates quickly became family. I enjoyed every assignment and every project and was able to work alongside my creative friends. The constructive criticism during screenings was never sugar-coated, yet never personal. It allowed all of us to identify the technical or structural weaknesses in our projects and work to improve them for the next one.”
