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Brunswick High to memorialize deceased former student with TV studio

By JEREMY BAUER-WOLF – Frederick News Post

Andy Garman was a senior at Brunswick High School when he died unexpectedly in 2011 after contracting a virus, which eventually infiltrated his brain. The 18-year-old died the opening night of the school play in which he was slated to perform. Andy was dedicated to theater, music and performing. He had considered either teaching music or history, his mother, Allison, said. Though Andy’s death was four years ago, the Brunswick community still rallies around him. The high school is raising funds to develop a TV studio at the school, one where students can appear on a school-wide daily broadcast and record their school projects, something Andy would have loved and participated in, his mother said. The Brunswick High School PTSA has raised more than $2,000 to purchase equipment for the studio, which will be housed in what was formerly the drama department’s costume storage space. The Community Foundation of Frederick County collected money after Andy’s death, a slice of which was donated to the Brunswick High School drama department. Roughly $740 sat untouched for years, until the school’s new drama teacher, Thomas Graff, brainstormed the idea for the studio. Graff arrived this school year from Windsor Knolls Middle School, which also maintains a studio. The Brunswick studio will feature a blue screen that will allow for students to live broadcast a morning announcement and weather segment, likely with students taking turns, Graff said. Graff said he envisions this as one day becoming an entirely student-run endeavor. The overall cost for the studio will run between $3,000 and $4,000. Depending on how much money the PTSA raises, more equipment can be purchased to provide greater opportunities for the students, said PTSA president Sharon Edelstein. The studio will require a video switcher, an audio board, cameras and lights. A plaque will be hung in the studio to honor Andy. “He was always inclusive,” said Edelstein. Graff anticipates that the studio could open this school year, as soon as January. Andy did studio work at Brunswick Middle School, more often behind the camera than in front of it, said Allison, though he would read an occasional segment. He participated in both marching and jazz bands and National Honor Society, and was a church volunteer at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jefferson. He was also an Eagle Scout. Before his death, Andy had been ill for a few months with sinus infections, Allison said. She and her husband were keeping a close eye on him, but he wanted to participate in the play the night he died, a show called “Harvey,” about a man who can see a human-sized anthropomorphic rabbit. He wanted to either attend McDaniel College in Carroll County or Shepherd University in West Virginia. Allison said this studio will be a fantastic way to honor her son’s memory. She commended the tight-knit community and the donations made thus far. “We have a wonderful network of families in Jefferson,” Allison said.