It is a Sunday morning in 2020 at church. The pandemic has hit, and many don’t want to go out in public. Yet, from the simple access of their home electronics, they can still watch their local church’s Sunday service. For over five years, senior Silver Knight nominee Tyler Dawkins has run the camera service at his church through YouTube.
Silver Knights is an awards program for seniors, recognizing them for their work in the community and at school. It allows them to showcase and be honored for their service over the past few years in whichever category they were nominated for.
Students are usually recognized for their advancements in literature, arts, sports, sciences, and many other aspects in the community as well as the school. It’s a prestigious program that only a few students in Broward, Monroe, and Miami-Dade are nominated for.
Dawkins was nominated in the Digital & Interactive Media category and went through a tough process to get to where he is now. Needing a signature from Bianca Carbone, the AICE Language and English IV honors teacher, this was not a simple achievement; it was an obstacle-infested progress.
He was also nominated under athletics and science, as he is a part of the Jaguars water polo and swim teams as well as many science clubs, placing in the state for many competitions. Additionally, Dawkins plans to attend Florida State University and major in biomedical engineering. Yet, he knew that his strongest field was media.
He holds over 600 hours of church service for the media and is the current lead cameraman at his church. From learning things from how to use a camera to how to live stream, Dawkins believes that this journey has expanded his knowledge of media.
“It was not easy doing all of the work when it came to the cameras and media of the church at first, but thanks to my dedication and resilience, I made it work and helped the community reach and heal souls from all across the world,” Dawkins notes.
Expanding the media program at his church, about 600 audience members rely on it to tune into the services. Instead of going in person, they can easily access an online version of what is happening that day in church to practice their religion at home or remotely. Dawkins uses 10 different cameras and controls all of them while making sure the livestream is steady.
“I feel very proud of my mark at Charter because I worked extremely hard to get to where I am today. Also, I’m very proud of everyone in the school over the years that got to know me and watch me grow into the person I am now. This mark will hopefully immortalize me and inspire other students to achieve their goals, especially after what COVID did,” Dawkins remarks.
