I love my job. Our grads continue to give me reasons to get up in the morning.  One of the many cool things about working at Specs Howard School is actually hearing or seeing grads interact with other grads on the radio or television.

Just recently, I caught an exchange on WDET 101.9 FM between Pat Batchellor and Rob Morrosi. Pat is WDET's afternoon news anchor and Ross is the media relations director for the Michigan Department of Transportation. Both are grads.

The two of them were talking about the numerous road construction projects underway in Southeast Michigan, and while I’m not a fan of road construction, I thought it was fantastic to hear them talk about it.

Speaking of roads, I was in Lansing visiting employers last week, including the Citadel group under good friend Rob Striker, and was able to re-connect with Brent Alberts, Chris Reynold and J.J. McCrae -- some of Michigan’s finest program directors (PDs).

I also dropped in to see WLNS-TV News Director, Phil Hendrix and topped off the visit at MacDonald Broadcasting to visit with GM Rick Sarata and Program Directors, Brant Johnson and Scott Loomis.

When I got back, I heard from grad  Mike Wheeler. He has a new job as PD of 92.9-Dave FM in Atlanta. So he sends me a run-down of his air staff, and what to my wondering eyes doth appear, but Margot Smith!  I haven't heard from her since she left WGRD in Grand Rapids ages ago.  She's extraordinarily talented and I'm delighted she's doing well.

It was very cool to receive the latest newsletter from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and see that not one, but two of our favorite grads have been elected to the organization’s board of directors! Al Blinke, Vice President and General Manager of WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and Bob Peters, Vice President and General Manager of WCZY-FM in Mt. Pleasant, are highly respected members of our industry and I am extremely proud of them both.

The mayor of Houston, Texas, is apparently proud of one of our grads too. Roger Beatty graduated from Specs Howard School in 1979. He and his morning show partner, Dean, recently celebrated ten years on the air at classic rock station, KKRW.

To commemorate the occasion, April 27, 2007 was named "Dean & Rog Day," and the mayor presented them with an official proclamation during their live broadcast at Houston’s Hard Rock Café. Roger and Dean have been a morning team for 20 years after getting together at WIOG in Saginaw.

I’d like to offer my congratulations to Bob Daniels as he joins Blue Water Technologies as operations director.  Blue Water does event staging, equipment sales and rentals, and other hi-tech presentations. And last, but not least, I was really glad to hear that Joe Adams of MetroTraffic has joined Ross Marosso manning the Local 4 helicopter. Ross is WDIV's air borne news reporter and Joe is now their Morning Traffic person.

I think that's all for this one, folks. You've got to save me something to get up for tomorrow morning! Send me a line!

Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens (center) was among the VIPs to attend a party for grad Roger Beatty (far right) and his morning show partner Dean (left) commemorating their 10th anniversary at the station.

There was a lot of excitement going around Specs Howard School last week because Channel 7 was here to tape our new ad campaign to promote our upcoming “Walk-in Week” (Aug. 6-10) and Open House (Aug. 8) for prospective students.

It was really great to see so many recent grads taking such an active approach in launching their careers. My sincere thanks to those that came out and took part in interviews with old pal Warren Pierce.  It really was an impressive group. In addition, Internship Advisor Katie Peters put together a great group of interns to basically be themselves in front of the camera.

Fallon Jamil (pictured right) has been busy chasing after her dream long before she graduated this past January.  She started out interning as a production assistant on Ross Marroso’s Osama Bin Latte (another one of our exceptional grads), modeling for the school and even put her previous career as a cosmetologist to use by doing hair and make-up at a couple of TV commercial shoots.

Since she graduated, she’s been to the Grammy Awards to interview celebrities on the red carpet as a citizen journalist, apprenticed at SWOCC Oakland Cable Commission Center and has been in several television commercials, most notably as an on-air host and marketer for a series of product spots titled, Shop Smart, which will be airing on My TV 20 Detroit.

Chris McLeod (pictured left) started a freelance career working as a production assistant and grip before he even graduated from Specs Howard last September. Since then he has continued freelancing on projects for Comcast, NBA Films, Comerica, Ford Motor Company and Habitat for Humanity. While Chris prefers to work behind the scenes, it seems we're determined to put him in front of the camera. By the way, Chris, you did a great job!

Tom Slaski and Sean Redenz are both 2007 graduates that have jumped right in to pursuing careers in filmmaking.

Tom Slaski (pictured right), who graduated in March, has worked as a production assistant, grip, and weapons assistant since joining the crew of InZero: Fragile Wings.

InZero: Fragile Wings is a full-length feature film being produced by Thought Collide, a local production company headed up by yet another grad, Jamie Sonderman.

Sean Redenz (pictured left) actually began working on the feature as an intern and while he was still a student was promoted to Assistant Director. Sean just graduated in June!

Thanks to Jamie, working on the film has been a great learning experience for students, graduates and even staff members that have been involved.

The feature is expected to be released in 2008 and will make the film festival circuit!

Grad Nicole Sylvester is also a filmmaker and owner of Autumn Rain Features. It was so good of her to make the time to come in and be interviewed since she was right in the middle of preparing to move her film company to New York City.

Nicole recently completed two feature films, Layla’s Girl and 16000 Block, that are making the rounds at various film festivals, including the very well known Tribeca event.

Pictured left with Admissions Representative Renee Vitale is grad Jay Hudson, who came in to represent the radio side. After working as weekend air talent at the RIFF for several years, he was hired on by 89X to take over the 7-to-midnight shift full time and within a few months, he became Music Director as well.

In addition to her duties here at Specs, Renee Vitale is on the air at WDVD 96.3 FM on the weekends so she is always a natural when it comes to representing the school on-camera. This time around, the topic revolved around schools that accept credits earned at Specs Howard, so our students and grads have a head start when they wish to go on to earn a college degree. (Click here for a complete list of participating colleges and universities.)