Marshfield chamber partners with high school for weekly show

A livestream show Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce created a year ago is now being produced by multimedia students at Marshfield High School.

The first student-produced episode of the show, renamed Marshfield Today, aired Feb. 19.

Rachel Andrews, executive director of the chamber, said the show was launched in early 2025 to promote events, highlight local resources and spread awareness about Marshfield area business and industry.

“Our hope was to let our community know what was going on in our town, in our community, but it was also a way to showcase our members,” Andrews said in a Feb. 16 interview with the Springfield Business Journal.

Board member Sam Rost said the chamber contracted with Lebanon Now Marketing LLC for the first year, at a cost of roughly $5,000 for 48 shows. “They were a good partner and produced a good show.”

With the agreement set to end, Rost suggested working with the high school. Rost, who also serves as city administrator, talked to Superintendent Mike Henry, who was supportive.

Rost said the chamber has invested nearly $6,000 to buy the needed equipment, including cameras, microphones, lighting, laptop and software. He said Armstrong World Industries Inc. also donated materials to create a recording studio at the high school.

The goal is to air a show at 10 a.m. each Thursday. The first guest will be Henry, who is retiring at the end of the 2025-26 year.

Students will have access to the studio for class projects when the chamber is not using the space, Rost said.

Andrews, who often hosts along with retired lawmaker Lyndall Fraker, announced the partnership during the Jan. 22 show known during the first year as Good Morning Marshfield.

Rost was on that show along with high school principal Nicki Thompson and multimedia teacher Jessica Gorham. Multimedia students were also briefly on camera.

By producing, Gorham said students will learn technical skills plus the importance of teamwork and communication.

Thompson said the show provides a larger audience for students and may help them feel more connected to Marshfield.

“Down the line, maybe there’s room for this to turn into internships and different networking opportunities that students have that lead to jobs and hopefully, ultimately, keeping those kids and others in our community and continuing to give back,” said Thompson, on the show.

Rost said in addition to producing, students have been encouraged to develop a 5-minute weekly segment to showcase district news and events.

“If we can come alongside them as a chamber and give them some…real life experience, they’re going to come out of here and they’re already going to have a leg up,” he said, during the Jan. 22 show.

Fraker said the weekly show spreads awareness about what is happening locally.

“If grandparents and parents and neighbors and kids – all the families – start tuning in, our viewership goes up. It’s a great partnership,” said Fraker, during the show. “It’ll be a good, unified thing for our community to be able to share the business world with the education world.”