CARSLBAD -- Students with Carlsbad High School Television will join the movers and shakers of the local broadcast media Tuesday night when they cover the election from a remote studio in Golden Hall's Election Central.

For the first time, the students with the Emmy award-winning broadcast program, CHSTV, will share space in Golden Hall with network television news stations.

Their coverage will begin at 7 p.m. and the broadcast will air Wednesday morning on the high school's television broadcast.

"This is a huge undertaking," said Doug Green, program adviser for CHSTV, which has been ranked No. 1 nationally for the quality of its high school broadcast programs. "The election coverage is our biggest single-day event."

On election night, Green said student anchors and reporters will interview candidates, and student crews will film and edit the stories from a remote studio that students will set up earlier in the day. By the end of the night, a 15-minute broadcast will have been produced.

To prepare for election night, he said student reporters have conducted live interviews with mayoral candidates Glenn Bernard and William Griffith, and will interview Mayor Claude "Bud" Lewis live on Monday.

However, the tables may turn for these high school students on election night, Green said, as the interviewers may become the interviewees.

"The local TV stations are telling us that we will become part of the story that evening because of the uniqueness of a high school producing a program at this level of sophistication," he said.

Green said CHSTV is a sophisticated program that has won two national and four regional Emmy Awards for high school television programs. In June, he said the program won the national Emmy for technical achievement, which recognizes "every element of broadcasting."

He attributes the show's success to CHSTV's "state-of-the-art" technology -- which was bought mainly through donations and federal grants -- and the students' commitment to producing a high-quality broadcast.

Throughout the academic year, CHSTV broadcasts at 9:23 a.m. daily at Carlsbad High School, and Monday through Friday on Channel 3. It averages 178 broadcasts each year, Green said. Each program begins with the pledge of allegiance, and then students give news reports, announcements and conduct live interviews.

He said 52 students from each grade at Carlsbad High School comprise CHSTV's staff. The students are split into two broadcast journalism classes. On alternate mornings, the classes spend two hours producing, editing or covering stories for CHSTV.

Each student learns all aspects of putting together a news broadcast -- from reporting to editing to producing. Although the anchors are announced months in advance, Green said he uses a "popsicle-stick" method to randomly select roles for the rest of the students.

Four students, interviewed about the program Friday, said they take pride in working for an award-winning show. Furthermore, the experience is preparing them for professional broadcast careers.

Aron Gunner, a senior who worked as a floor director for Friday's broadcast, said he has been a part of the production program for six years, having started in middle school.

He said his first reporting assignment was covering the Cedar fire three years ago. The experience not only taught him how to report on a major news event, but was particularly satisfying because the station earned a national Emmy recognizing students' hard work.

"It's just fun to say you have won an Emmy," he said, and the other three students agreed.

Max Miller, a sophomore who worked as a technical director for Friday's show, said he enjoys the opportunity to try different broadcasting roles.

"I like to do pretty much everything," he said. "I like that diversity."

Melissa Sass, a senior who interviewed Bernard live during Friday's program, said she likes being a part of the high-energy environment at CHSTV.

"This is so fast-paced, and you never get bored," she said. "We are humble about it, but it is good to be a part of something so big."