Sports Media: a class led by experience and empathy

By Addison Welborn

Photo of the livestream team at an OHS varsity basketball game taken by Reagan Rozzi

The Sports Media and Broadcasting class is the team behind every livestream of every sporting event at Owasso High School. These students are able to accomplish everything they do because of their teacher, John-Michael Thompson. What makes him and his class so special is Thompson’s personal experience in the sports media field and his attitude toward teaching. 

Thompson and his students livestream every varsity football, softball, baseball, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and soccer home game at Owasso. This requires an immense amount of time and work outside of the regular class hours. 

“There are multiple days a week where I probably don’t leave the school until around ten, 11 [p.m.]  … I’d probably say on average at least twice a week I’m here late, sometimes three to four times a week. Just kinda depends on how hectic the athletic schedule gets,” Thompson explained. Laughing, he added, “It’s some hours.”

Students also have to work long hours. They need seven credits of working livestreams per semester, which roughly accounts to one credit per game. Junior Karstin Baker, a first-year student in the class, has already accumulated his seven credits for the spring semester, but he doesn’t intend to stop. Baker isn’t an athlete, nor does he want to go into film. His greatest passion is music, yet he’s still one of the most active students in the class, having advanced his way up the ranks to become a student director of the basketball broadcasts. Despite Baker’s already packed schedule, he is always happy to work a game because he loves what he does, as do all his peers. “Everyone won’t stop talking about the class,” declared Baker. 

Baker originally joined the class because of one of his friends, and now he too encourages everyone he knows to join. One of the reasons the class is so beloved is because of the teacher’s past working in the sports media industry. Thompson has worked in sports media since 2014 and also runs his own media company. The company, Johnny Dash Media, has covered many Owasso games and has also published a ten-episode documentary series called “The Standard” about the 2023-24 Boys Varsity Basketball season and state championship win, a very inspiring accomplishment for student’s to see their teacher achieve. 

“That was me testing myself. … Can I do this? Can I do a ten-episode series?” Thompson said about “The Standard.”

He was inspired by two other basketball documentary series, “The Last Dance” and “Last Chance U: Basketball.

“I was kinda like, ‘What would that look like at the high school level?’” he expressed. “Once I got [to Owasso] I was like … ‘Let’s make it happen now.’”

He uses his media company to help out the players and teams he works with.

“It was important to give … kids exposure … for their talents and abilities and [give the] program exposure as well,” he stated. “I think that [“The Standard” is] something the players and their families will be able to go back and watch … each chapter of that championship run.”

The talent and dedication to the craft that Thompson showcases in “The Standard” is also shown in the Sports Media and Broadcasting Class. Thompson is able to teach high school students well because he knows that it won’t be an easy or short process. 

“A lot of the learning is done on the fly. … I have to try and teach everyone how things work but it’s so much that it’s kinda hard to retain if you're learning it all at one time,” Thompson disclosed. “I can introduce you to it [during class] but the actual learning part is gonna be while it’s happening.”

The quick start of the football season on top of the amount of things that go into a livestream means there’s no way to teach everything his student’s need before the first game day.

“Even before I was [teaching highschool] I had to do the same thing. … I would have people who had people who had little to no experience [in sports media] come and work [with me]. …  [I learned] how to make complicated things simple for people to understand.” 

He understands that he is asking a lot of his students, and that most of the time there are too many things going on for his students to understand all of them at once.

“That's a part of being the person that’s teaching somebody, you have to have patience,” he explained. “I think one of the first things I do is explain to them that they’re gonna make a mistake and it's okay that you made a mistake because I also make mistakes during streams.”

The class during the school day is also constantly shifting and changing, Thompson called it “a continuous work in progress.” He bases the curriculum of the class on a foundation of his knowledge and the school’s expectations and then builds off that given the desires of his students. 

He does his best to give his students an experience that will help them find the same passion for sports media he has. Thompson finds inspiration in two sports media icons from his hometown, Stewart Scott and Stephen A. Smith who are both prominent members of the sport-reporting world. He wants to have the same impact on his students that his own high school media class had for him and his classmates. 

“That was a great class, and it’s kinda crazy I’m teaching a class that’s so similar to that,” Thompson expressed. “I thought it was a good opportunity … especially when it came to being able to teach a Sports Media and Broadcasting class. … Sports has always been a passion of mine [and] I remember being younger making videos with your friends and stuff and not really thinking too much of it. … I found a way to connect those two passions and past times.”

Baker sees that fervor for sports media in class every day. Thompson’s stories, experience or lessons make the class such a great experience.

“You could tell if the class was taught by anyone else,” said Baker. 

Baker went on to describe the difference between this class and his others, and how Thompson’s passion makes him stand out from any other high school teacher Baker has had. Another great thing about the class is the kindness in the midst of chaos that Thompson brings to the class. Last semester, by request from Vice Principal Austin Higgs, the Sports Media and Broadcasting class made “trailers” for some clubs around the school that are now available on the Student Hub. 

Thompson praised his students, saying, “Those videos, 100% them. … I just gave the instructions; they went out and executed.”

He also said his students are always ready to work when he needs them. 

“Maybe there’s a playoff game and everybody has enough [credits.] … I need people to come help and [the students will] just jump in and make it happen.”\

Thompson knows the impact positivity in school can have because of his high school experiences.

“I remember being the student that wasn’t always the perfect student. … I was very familiar with getting sent to the principal's office and getting in-school suspension,” he expressed. “That shows me that these kids … they need more empathy than discipline.”

He added, “You coming in here, you’ve never touched a 3000 dollar camera before, of course you not gonna know how it works. … It’s up to me to walk you through, to help you understand what that looks like, and how it works. … When it comes to kids, it’s just about having patience.”

He brings his best to teaching every day, even when his students can’t. He does this to give them a place to try something new and fail, and learn from that.

“That’s what this is kinda built to do: get [students] out of their comfort zone,” he explained. “Whether you’re good at it or not, you at least tried … that’s the one thing that I try to get through to everybody. … I’m big on taking chances, … you could get the best results, you could get no results at all, but at least you tried.”

Thompson’s approach to teaching is unique because his journey to where he is today is unique.

“Here’s the thing,” he stated bluntly. “I really really do enjoy being a teacher. … What I enjoy more about teaching and teaching this subject is helping these kids get an understanding about life and what’s to come, being able to give a little bit of advice everyday, in hopes that when these students grow up they can take the life lessons that they learned from me and apply them to their lives and become successful adults and contribute to our society.”

The Sports Media and Broadcasting class lies mostly in the background of Owasso High School despite operating one of the pillars of Owasso’s varsity athletic program. It is able to operate and perform at such a high level because of the dedication of those who participate in it. The dedication stems from a fantastic teacher who uses on-the-job experience, a passion for sports media and an empathetic approach to teaching to make the best class possible.