On the air: Meet dynamic duo behind MBHS Broadcast

If you happen to cross paths with Mountain Brook High School’s Broadcast team, you may notice the redheaded pair running the show.

Evie Lee and Kinleigh Freeman are the self-proclaimed “dream team” when it comes to MBHS Spartan 2 TV. Lee thrives behind the screen as a technical director, while Freeman is in the limelight as an on-camera anchor for the show.

“I have always been interested in the idea of broadcasting and being on TV of some sort,” said Freeman. “Around age 7, I got really interested in football and sports in general. My third grade Halloween costume was a ESPN sportscaster. I just always used to say that I wanted to be a sportscaster.”

Both girls are juniors and plan to pursue careers in the communications/media industry.

“When I was kid, I always loved photography. And I was like,’I want to do sports photography when I’m older’ because I’ve always loved taking photos of action shots,” Lee said. “When I was 5, my mom handed me a camera, and I immediately started taking pictures of people doing stuff. And she was like, ‘Well, OK, I can’t stop that now.’ So I’ve always been interested in doing media action shots.”

Freeman first got involved in MBHS broadcasting after a close family friend on the team, Ty Shotts, encouraged her to join.

“I applied, and then got on it, and that’s when I really saw just how much I really liked it, and how much I really loved getting to be an anchor and just all the work that goes into it,” Freeman said. “I can’t even tell you the amount of real world skills that I’ve learned from it. There’s just so much that goes into it, like all the technical stuff. I’m definitely not the best at it. Evie is definitely the technical girl of the team, but I have still learned how to work through adversity, and with problem solving and just teamwork.”

Lee took media arts classes during eighth and ninth grade, and as a member of the marching band she took a liking to the new jumbotron on the football field. Her media arts teacher, Carolyn Speegle, pointed out that the broadcast team was involved with the media on the screen and suggested Lee join the program.

“I was like, ‘Wow, wait, I want to do this,’” Lee said. “And so then I joined the team, and everything was just changed. I loved it. I immediately wanted to do everything. … Ty was like my mentor. He was the TD. He was director. And so he taught me everything I didn’t know. He taught me how to change everything. If anyone has a question, they come to me about any technical stuff.”

Lee makes all of the graphics for the jumbotron and made the band and football videos, along with what she described as “all the extra media stuff.” Freeman has become a familiar face during football halftime shows, and she even made an appearance on WBRC in their First Alert Weather Extra.

Both Freeman and Lee pointed out that many of their peers don’t quite realize how much work their team puts into the content everyone enjoys.

With another year and a half in Mountain Brook’s broadcast program ahead of them, both girls have big plans and want to take advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as they can and enhance any media-related skills through the program and internships before pursuing their college degrees.

Freeman plans to become a political analyst in Washington, D.C., and hopes to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she would double major in political science and broadcast journalism. She also hopes to cheer for the school. 

Lee dreams of attending the University of Texas at Austin but said she’ll likely end up at Mississippi State University. She is looking to double major in sports journalism and business so that she can run her own sports photography business.

On top of their involvement in the broadcast program, both teens are highly active and participate in several extracurricular activities. Lee works a few part-time jobs and is captain of the color guard as well as a member of the bowling team and women’s lacrosse team. Freeman also works on the weekends and is a cheerleader and an MBHS ambassador. She is also involved in community service initiatives and as a servant leader at Mountain Brook Baptist Church.