All throughout NC, students fill with anticipation for the Tomahawk Today shows on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Over the course of the ten minute show, students receive information about activities going on in the school and laugh along with the short skits. However, except for his students and SkillsUSA members, seldom do others know about the Tomahawk Today’s adviser, Daniel Knode.

Working in the broadcast industry for almost 20 years, Knode can certainly call himself an expert on live news. He started working at Cable News Network (CNN) in 1996 in various positions, including graphics and management, until 2015.

“I am a very live-news oriented person, so for me, the news and the broadcast are really what I’m focused on right now,” Knode said.

Unfortunately, due to budget issues, CNN laid him off in 2015. However, he saw his employment situation as an opportunity to take on something new: educating.

“I was looking for something new anyway, a new challenge. I had been at it for 20 years, so it had been a while,” Knode said.

He replaced former Audio Video Technology and Film (AVTF) teacher Joshua Dempsey, who left NC in 2017 to pursue a higher position in the county.  Now, having begun his teaching career at NC, Knode remains quite comfortable teaching the art of filmmaking and broadcasting to high schoolers.

“I was a trainer at CNN for a lot of our projects, so it was an actual fit for me looking into teaching, and it allows me to have some better hours than I had before,” Mr. Knode says.

Knode’s arrival, of course, brought new changes to the AVTF program. One of those changes included the discontinuation of NC’s Broadcast Team: a group of students who broadcasted every home football game to viewers at home through their website. Dempsey started this group to prepare students in the field of sports broadcasting.

Key aspects remained, however, such as funny segments where students asked trick questions, and informative news pieces. Tomahawk members continued to compete with SkillsUSA through their evolving style, particularly in the past year. Former seniors TJ Bolden, Jay Munro, Brandon Martinez, Chad Colan, Daniel MacAnn, and Ohaegi Childs, and current junior Taylor Mason held the state champion title in their respective divisions and proudly fashioned their accomplishments. The year before that—Dempsey’s last year at NC— NC alumni and Broadcast News Production champions Emmett Schindler, Joshua Dawson, Josh Arias, and Turner Markwalter carried on the legacy. Knode looks to continue the tradition of success with his current AVTF students.

“I’m learning a lot about the film industry, which I haven’t done as much with,” Knode said.

Knode looks forward to taking Tomahawk Today to new heights, with even more professional work. He remains excited for the year ahead of him and plans for success in NC’s film production.