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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Students’ music video getting attention on YouTube

Miles Fowler worked with Bao Tran, Mariah Hernandez and photography teachers Richard Bech and Kirk Hirota to create a musical tribute to Rogers High School.

Miles Fowler, 18, likes to rap and he likes to perform, and he got to do both when he helped a group of students at Rogers High School put together a musical tribute to the school. The video has now been viewed more than 6,000 times on YouTube.

To the tune of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” Fowler wrote rap lyrics about how great Rogers High School is.

The chorus goes something like this: “Now you’re at Rogers, these halls will make you feel brand new – these days will inspire you, let’s hear it for Rogers.”

Fowler, who’s joined by Mariah Hernandez in the video, said Jay-Z is one of his favorite artists, and he picked that song not as a spoof, but more like a tribute.

“The original is a great song about loving New York City,” Fowler said. “We turned it into a song about loving Rogers.”

It was photography teachers Richard Bech and Kirk Hirota who pitched the idea of a music video to their class and approached Fowler and Bao Tran, 16. Tran became the behind-the-scenes master.

“I took the photography class last year, so this was my year to experiment,” Tran said. “I was the director, editor and cameraman – it was a huge project.”

Fowler said they mobilized the entire arts department to shoot video and perform at assemblies.

“We gave little cameras to random students and asked them to shoot something,” Fowler said. “We mobilized everything we could for this project.”

Tran said coordinating everything was a huge project.

“But I think it turned out pretty nice,” Tran said. “The logistics were unbelievable.”

Fowler said he hopes the video will have a positive effect on Rogers’ reputation, which he said hasn’t always been the best.

“We had some bad dropout rates for a while,” Fowler said, “but we have exploded beyond everything people thought was possible.”

Fowler just graduated and is headed to Western Washington University in the fall. Tran will return to Rogers for his junior year.

“Everyone we showed the video to liked it – even the principal,” Tran said.

The video is being shared on Facebook and has received lots of comments from new and old students on YouTube. Don’t miss the credits, which feature Rogers’ teachers and staff rapping and singing on and off key.

“I think the community feels it,” Fowler said.