When planning on broadcasting the biggest sports event of the year at Lakeland, the broadcasting crew needed to stand a camera up higher due to everyone standing. Until Arlen Holdahl was brought the opportunity to build a stand for the broadcasting crew. 

The Lakeland Journalism class started broadcasting wrestling, boys’ and girls’ basketball games at home. 

Michael Dunn, journalism and yearbook advisor, was trying to think of many different ways to make broadcasting work. Getting stacks and stacks of books from his room to raise up the equipment and camera, yet this wasn’t the best way to solve the problem. 

Arlen Holdahl is a Sophomore at Lakeland High School who participates in Stagecraft. Holdahl is one of the builders for the class. 

Holdahl enjoys being able to work with wood and created amazing projects with it. “Nature, I love the smell of wood and love working with my hands”.  Holdahl said about his inspiration for working on projects. 

Lakeland Armed Guard John Hatcher came up to Holdahl about building a stand for Battle for the Paddle. 

Holdahl then went up to the gym and measured out everything he needed to build the stand. 

It took multiple tries to get it just the way he wanted, with having to cut the wood multiple times and fix it to make it perfect. 

“It’s my work out there and I don’t want it to be sloppy”, Holdahl said about The Stand. 

The stand was then used the same day for the Battle for the Paddle game, it worked tremendously for the broadcasting crew. Broadcasting was a success and Holdahl helped make it successful. 

After Battle for the Paddle, Holdahl continued to work on the stand by painting it. Fellow Stagecraft student Alex Baldridge offered to help paint it. 

“Honestly, I saw one of the builders struggling to paint it, and I offered to help” Baldridge stated about painting the stand. 

Baldridge finished painting the stand with a logo of the Lakeland Hawk on the top, with a green background and white paint on the legs of the stand. 

“Seeing it all together is cool after hours of work put into it, it’s just a sense of accomplishment,” Baldridge said about finishing the project. 

The stand now stays in Mr. Dunn’s classroom and will be used for broadcasting at Lakeland for years to come.