Author: SPMC Staff

The Sun Prairie Media Center wants to know what you’re up to behind closed doors. As Sun Prairie residents, businesses, students, and city government struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive shutdowns, closures, cancellations, and social distancing that it has brought our way, most of us are looking to move on and forget much about our current situation. But it’s true that in the not-too-distant future, people will want to remember what life was like during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sun Prairie Media Center, home to public access TV channels KSUN, KIDS-4, and the community radio station 103.5 FM The Sun, is hoping that you’ll take time to document what you are doing during the quarantine in the form of a short video. How are you passing…

Love to make movies and videos? Then sign up for SPMC’s summer workshops! These workshops are designed for budding journalists, filmmakers and actors who want a fun and creative way to express themselves. Participants will be introduced to media production in a fun, hands-on learning environment that is conveniently located – we are in the same building as the public library! These courses will inspire kids in a creative atmosphere to learn communication skills they can use for a lifetime. Nothing is impossible when you have a camera, an idea and a group of friends!More information and online registration is available at kids4.tv.Registration opened on April 15. Registration will close on June 19. All workshops will meet at the Sun Prairie Media Center. Discounted rates for SPMC members are available.…

As the governor’s “Safer at Home” order was widely being reported, SPMC director Jeff Robbins made the difficult decision to suspend community access to the Media Center effective on the afternoon of March 23. The KIDS-4 program had already been suspended as of March 13. While this decision pained the entire SPMC staff – recognizing that the Media Center is built on the idea of community access – it quickly became clear that the step was a necessary one to support the governor’s call to eliminate nonessential travel and to limit community spread of COVID-19. Since March 23, staff has been working from home to, among many other tasks, program the channels and help produce programming. Although media outlets are exempt from the Governor’s order, being a community media center…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the city of Sun Prairie’s commitment to reducing the risk of spread of the virus within city facilities, the Sun Prairie Media Center will have limited staff presence beginning Thursday, March 19. This does not mean the Sun Prairie Media Center is closing. We are working diligently to maintain community access to our studios for our members and city staff as necessary during this time. However, the KIDS-4 program has been suspended until further notice. Even during times of limited physical presence, the SPMC staff will be accessible through mail and e-mail. Please call 608-837-4193 or e-mail staff@sunprairiemediacenter.com or jrobbins@cityofsunprairie.com if you need assistance, are requesting access to the SPMC TV or radio studios, or have any questions. Of course you can continue…

The results for the Best of the Midwest Media Fest Results are in, and programming produced at the SPMC took home 19 awards, including “Best in Show” honors for the program “Bienvenido Wisconsin” and for a short documentary produced by Prairie Phoenix Academy students about student culture at the school. Elsewhere, Tina Paulus-Krause and Mark Gonwa scored “Excellence” awards for the radio programs “Your Leadership Legacy” and “Song Archaeology” respectively. Here is a breakdown of all of the categories: Best in Show Awards: Eric De Vries (Bienvendio Wisconsin -- Best Cultural/Ethnic Program) Terri Simpson's Prairie Phoenix Academy class (Best Program Produced by Youth) Excellence Awards: Mark Gonwa (Song Archaeology) Tina Paulus-Krause (Your Leadership Legacy) Achievement Awards: George Chavez (Making the Connections) Mark Gonwa (Beth Bombara interview) Mark Gonwa (Lou Ferrigno…

Sun Prairie residents will have a lot to decide when they head to the polls on April 7. And the Sun Prairie Media Center is offering extensive programming to help residents make those decisions. Thanks largely to candidate forums hosted by Chris Mertes and Don Hooser of the public-affairs program “Talk of the Town,” KSUN, sunprairiemediacenter.com, and the new Sun Prairie Media Center app will soon be loaded with shows specifically produced to assist voters in making informed choices during the upcoming spring election. “Talk of the Town” will record three candidate forums at the Sun Prairie Media Center in the upcoming weeks: On February 21, District 4 incumbent Mary Polenske and challenger David Virgell will be featured, followed by a March 6 record date for District 3 incumbent Maureen…

Another Groundhog Day in Sun Prairie has come and gone. Thanks to the loyal volunteers at The SUN and KIDS-4, we will have memories from this event. Bill Baker and Lisa Wolf provided a live broadcast of the event on The SUN, 103.5FM starting at 6:30am. Along with airing the prognostication event they also provided music and entertainment before and after it occurred. KIDS-4 crewmembers Logan, Griffin and Kevin also got up bright and early to brave the cold weather on February 2 and headed down to Cannery Square to see what Jimmy had in mind for Groundhog Day 2020. This year marked the 72nd anniversary of the Groundhog Prognostication in Sun Prairie. In case you missed it, Jimmy communicated with Mayor Esser that we will see six more weeks…

Ever since “The Star” was nice enough to name me as one of its “20 to Watch” for this year, I’ve felt a tinge of anxiety. After all, 2019 was so busy at the Sun Prairie Media Center, how will 2020 ever compete? Let’s take a brief look back on some of our highlights from the last year of the decade: January: After a request from the mayor and city administrator, the SPMC greatly increased the number of city meetings that it broadcast live. After adding nearly every board and commission meeting to our schedule, our meeting coverage expanded by 123 percent, keeping us busy all year and giving Sun Prairie residents a more complete and transparent look at its government in action. February: KIDS-4 and 103.5 FM The Sun…

The Sun Prairie Media Center, home to TV channels KSUN, KIDS-4, and 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio, is pleased to announce the launch of a brand-new, free, all-inclusive app for all mobile devices. The app is available to download now from the App Store and Google Play. Unlike the Media Center’s previous app that focused on audio content only, this new app includes both video and audio programming. Once the app is downloaded, users have access to live streams of KSUN, KIDS-4, and 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio. Users can also access literally hundreds of KSUN programs, City of Sun Prairie meetings, SPHS sports productions, SPASD school board meetings, and dozens and dozens of podcasts recorded at the 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio studios underwritten by the…

All 57 students enrolled in the Sun Prairie Media Center’s unique KIDS-4 program are sporting brand new KIDS-4 shirts thanks to a generous donation from the Bank of Sun Prairie! This the third year in a row that the cost of the shirts have been covered by local organizations. Previous donors included the Optimist Club and Titley and Associates, an Allstate Agency. The design of the shirt is unique as each year students enrolled in KIDS-4 submit their ideas for a T-shirt design, with the winning design picked by other kids in the program. This year’s winner is Abby Packard, a sixth grader who has participated in KIDS-4 since she was in 4th grade. After some minor design modifications, the shirts were printed at Ameriprint Apparel, located in Sun Prairie.…