Certain teachers leave a mark in a student’s life that lasts for years. Their passion, dedication and effort to their craft stands out. I had the chance to talk to a teacher that fits that description: SPFHS’ very own Mr. Moskal, who teaches all video production classes at the school. We talked about the past, present and future, including Raider News, Esports and more.

How long have you been teaching at SPFHS?

I started as a substitute teacher in the district in 2009, but actually started teaching [full time] in 2013.

Since then, what are some of your favorite memories teaching video production classes at SPFHS?

We’ve done a lot of really great things here. In 2014 and 2015 I had students recreate full versions of films. That was awesome. Raider News has gone through a lot of different transitions during my time here, and that’s been fun working as the times are changing and working on different types of news stories. And then even this year with the AV Club, winning a bunch of awards at the New Jersey High School Film Challenge in Jackson, New Jersey was awesome. So yeah, a lot of different things, but a lot of really interesting stuff.

What is your favorite video production class to teach?

I really like my creative storytelling and video production class. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of them, but I just love working with students and crafting stories and doing creative storytelling, writing screenplays and more. One of my master’s degrees is in screenwriting, so that’s a passion of mine, and working with students on building those stories and telling them through film is one of my favorite things to do.

From this past school year, what is one of your favorite Raider news videos that has really stuck out to you in a way?

A lot of the car stuff that we did has been awesome. Alex Bolton’s “Big Red”; that car is legendary. I wish to one day get a ride in it, maybe when we don’t have that teacher-student relationship and can just hang out. But on a serious note, that was awesome, and a lot of fun to watch.

We also know that you also coach for Esports here at the high school. When did that start out for you, and how has that experience been this past calendar year?

I started that in 2021 and it’s been awesome. It’s been so much fun working, and I have such a passion for video games and helping students represent the school in playing video games. So it’s been really cool this year. We lost a lot of seniors last year, so we’ve had a really big rebuilding year, and I’ve been leaning on seniors like Jacob Cristobal to instill what it’s like to be a Raider eSports player. But we’ve gotten a lot of really great new blood in the program, freshmen and sophomores that hopefully will be competing for state championships as soon as next year.

Awesome. And one final question, what’s some advice you would give to the next generation of Raider news students?

You’re going to get out of the class what you put into the class. I say this at the beginning of all of my classes, but the more time, effort and energy that you put into the projects, you’re going to improve, you’re going to represent the school well, and you’re going to grow as a visual storyteller. So just put your all into everything, and you never know where it’ll lead you.