PearlTV Episode 2: Travel, STN Wins, and Staff Spotlight

PearlTV is back for its first episode of 2026! Anchors Marina and Zarina kick off Episode 2 with three standout stories that celebrate student creativity and campus community.

First, Video Production student Brandon Gamez-Molina takes viewers on a virtual travelog to Guatemala, created with green screen and impressive editing—featuring culture, landscapes, and plenty of food.

Next, PearlTV shares major news from the Student Television Network (STN) Challenge, an international, deadline-driven competition where students have just six days to produce film and broadcast projects. This year, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School earned two awards: Second Place in the Short Film Challenge and Honorable Mention in the Silent Film Challenge—making DPMHS the only LAUSD school to win an award in the competition. The episode showcases the award-winning films Mixed Signals (directed by Serena Elkins and Mose Judge-Glascock) and Wishful Thinking (directed by Sebastian Nesh, with cinematography and editing by Mateo Zazueta).

The episode also features a Staff Spotlight with reporter Ethan Sharifi, who interviews Ms. Ruiz about her work as Climate Advocate on campus and beyond. Before signing off, Marina and Zarina remind students that Teacher of the Year nominations are now open via the QR code on screen or the Schoology posting.

Catch the full episode—and stay tuned for an upcoming PearlTV feature interview with the student filmmakers behind the STN award-winning projects!

PearlTV Episode 2: Travel, STN Wins, and Staff Spotlight

PearlTV is back for its first episode of 2026! Anchors Marina and Zarina kick off Episode 2 with three standout stories that celebrate student creativity and campus community. First, Video Production student Brandon Gamez-Molina takes viewers on a virtual travelog to Guatemala, created with green screen and impressive editing—featuring culture, landscapes, and plenty of food. Next, PearlTV shares major news from the Student Television Network (STN) Challenge, an international, deadline-driven competition where students have just six days to produce film and broadcast projects. This year, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School earned two awards: Second Place in the Short Film Challenge and Honorable Mention in the Silent Film Challenge—making DPMHS the only LAUSD school to win an award in the competition. The episode showcases the award-winning films Mixed Signals (directed by Serena Elkins and Mose Judge-Glascock) and Wishful Thinking (directed by Sebastian Nesh, with cinematography and editing by Mateo Zazueta). The episode also features a Staff Spotlight with reporter Ethan Sharifi, who interviews Ms. Ruiz about her work as a climate advocate on campus and beyond. Before signing off, Marina and Zarina remind students that Teacher of the Year nominations are now open via the QR code on screen or the Schoology posting. Catch the full episode—and stay tuned for an upcoming PearlTV feature interview with the student filmmakers behind the STN award-winning projects!

Show Transcript

welcome back Daniel Pearl Magnet High School I'm Marina and I'm Serena and this is Pearl TV kicking off of our first episode of 2026 new year new episode but the same Pro TV energy Today's show has traveled award-winning films and a familiar face from campus let's get right into it our first segment today takes us away beyond the studio video production student Brandon Gams Molina created a virtual travel log using green screen and some serious editing skills this project showcased the culture the Landscapes and most importantly the food of Guatemala which was probably a bad idea to watch right before lunch let's take the trip hello I'm your tour guide Brandon and today I'll be taking you over a month we will have 3 stops the first stop will be Antigo of Farmer's capital of the Spanish colonial government known for its preserved Colonial architecture cobblestone streets and vibrant buildings founded in 1543 the city was once the most important seat of power in central America before a major earthquake in 1773 forced the capital to move to present de Guatemala City located in the highlands it sits at the foot of 3 volcanoes Ava Fuego and aqua Tango the second stop is the car decal was a powerful ancient Mayan city that was the capital of a major Kingdom and featured over 3,000 structured it was once known as yuck metall and its original name means first Mutual 1 of the most unique facts is that while it was an important center for mining civilization it was built without any natural nearby water sources relying entirely on rainwater that was collected and stored Underground theal is over 2,000 years old its first settled around 900 BC as a small village it grew into a major ceremonial Center by 100 CE and reached its peak between 600 and 900 C becoming a for Mayan city state with a population that have exceeded 100,000 people the last stop is late at the clan Lake atlan is the deepest lake in Central America formed by volcanic eruption and IS for its surrounding volcanoes unique mind Villages and no submerged Mayan city all called sahaj it is also known as the land of Eternal spring due to its mild climate its water doesn't flow into any in some Villages have unique tradition identities and traditions the lake has a maximum depth of 340 M 1,120 ft and an average death of 154 m 505 ft a famous landmark in Guatemala is the hand of God now let me tell you about what Amala overall the weather is tropical so it can be sunny in the morning and be raining right after the capital in Guatemala currently is 1 of our city now here are some fun facts Guatemala has a lot of yummy foods but the most known is tamales Guatemala is the home of to the bird which is the country's currency Guatemala's national flower is the moon ha Moana Blanca white nun orchid and thank you all for coming along on this adventure the end next up and this is a really big 1 we have some incredible news about our students at the sdn challenge and international competition hosted by the student television network the sdn challenge gives students just 6 days to create broadcasts and film projects based on provided prompts it's a real world deadline driven experience that pushes students to think fast collaborate and produce at a professional level and this year our students is something extraordinary they won second place in short film Challenge and honorable mention in the silent film challenge and they have some serious competition 940 entries across 43 categories from 191 schools and nearly 3,000 students from around the world all projects were evaluated by a panel of 18 industry professional judges including Emmy award-winning producers Network news professionals and film and television editors from major Studio Projects and here's something we are specially proud to share Daniel Pro Magnet High School was the only School in La USD to earn an award in this International competition every single frame of our award pruning projects were conceived produced and completely completed entirely through our CTV CTE Advanced Film Production program please recognitions reflect our students creativity technical skill teamwork and ability to form under railroad pressure on a global stage we cannot be more proud and we are grateful for the continued support of our school administration and our PTSA who makes opportunities like this possible now let to watch this award-winning films are students brought to life first our honorable mention silent film directed by Serena Elkins and Moe's judge Glascock titled mixed signals followed by our second place short film ritual thinking directed by Sebastian Nash with cinematography and editing by male Sasa let's take a look at the films that put Pearl TV and Daniel from Magna High School on the international stage last it's been done hello so you're big so how can I help you I'd like 1 pineapple pizza with extra anchovies all right but I want you to do for me is to go down to the Pizzeria and get me a pizza okay go oh my beautiful creature how could you do this to me okay well that was crazy no robot pizza delivery in my future seriously also not going for a drive at Serena anytime soon yeah I'm pretty sure she does not have her license yet in our next episode of pro TV will be interviewing the student filmmakers Behind These award-winning projects let's talk about the creative process the pressure of the 6-day challenge and what it's like competing and winning on an international stage so make sure you stay tuned next up we're back with our reoccurring segment staff spotlight in this episode reporter is in sherifi sits down with Miss Ruiz to talk about her role as a climate Advocate and the work she does in our campus let's check it out hello this is Ethan sherifi reporting with pearl TV today I'll be interviewing Miss Ruiz what inspired you to be become a school climate advocate I actually started working at Daniel Pearl in the parent Center where I was helping parents with their questions but when this position opened up for the district and I found out that actually I could actually work with students that was a no-brainer I love the idea of being able to interact with students and support them with their needs what do you enjoy most about working at Daniel Pro Magnet High School hello the community that we have here it's because it's small it allows me to get to know every student on an individual level it helps me to really get to know them so that I can help them better and not just the students but even with the staff we we're a very tight-knit community and I love that what advice would you give students who want to succeed in high school get involved get involved find a club find a program that you want to do where wherever you go you can find your little niche of friends there and the more involved and the the more that you contribute the more you're going to get out of it who has been a role model of inspiration for you in your career well I really admire the other um staff and faculty that's here we have so many hardworking teachers that are so dedicated and and when I see how much they put into it it makes me want to do the same what has been 1 of your most memorable moments this school year yikes that's really hard okay I maybe can I just categorize it as anytime get to interact with the students that's my favorite whether it's just a conversation during lunch or you know dancing at the whole Co dance or uh just any any time that I get to make that connection with the students that's that's my favorite that's what makes my day what's 1 Thing students might be surprised to learn about you hm that's a tough 1 because you guys do know a lot about me I'm I'm pretty much an open book you know that I like to watch kdramas you know I like to dance you probably know I love flowers and I take care of my garden a lot so I think those things if you could choose a different career for a day what would it be and why it would probably also involve people connecting with people helping people maybe as a counselor what was your favorite subject when you were in high school oh that 1's easy math 100% specially algebra it was like iCal English you know very subjective right it could be good it could be bad you have to think of a lot of adverbs adjectives you know math was easy what do you find most rewarding about your role here oh this is you guys you've made me emotional okay um definitely just being able to help being able to feel like I can make a difference in someone's life even if it's small I love that if you can give the school when you program resource or tradition what would it be it'd be nice to have drama like a I remember being in drama in middle school and high school and um and that was really fun again you build community you it pushes you out of your comfort zone and you do something you may never do for the and the rest of your life so I think that'd be really fun a nice um fun Outlet this is Ethan sharifi reporting with pearl TV that was such a great conversation it's really inspiring to see how our staff are making a difference both in and out of the classroom and we love being able to highlight the people who help share our school community before we go students of deep imhs this part is up to you teacher of the year nominations are now open that's right just scan the QR code on the screen to submit your nomination or check out the posting on schooly I already know who I'm voting for same I think I know and it was way harder than I expected alright that's how you know we've got some great teachers here at Daniel Pearl well that about wraps up our first pro TV episode of 2026 thank you to our filmmakers reporters editors and true for an incredible show we'll see you next time on Pearl TV