South Plains College Sound Technology students mixed live shows and streamed video during Fest Week, instructors said, part of a semester-long program that gives students hands-on experience in live and studio audio work.

One of the instructors, Dolph Guardiola, identified as an instructor in the Sound Technology Department, said: "One of the classes I teach is called Audio for Video and they're the students that are mixing the sound that's actually being streamed with the video." That class and recurring lunch and evening performances lead up to Fest Week, Guardiola said, when students divide up bands and run front-of-house and broadcast mixing.

Why it matters: the program places students in operational roles rather than demonstration settings, giving them resume-ready experiences. Guardiola said students typically sign up for a mix of morning, lunch and evening shows during the semester and that, "some like this semester I think each one of my students is mixing 3, 3 bands."

Program structure and outcomes: Guardiola described two certification tracks in the department — a studio/production track and a live-sound track — and said graduates "can usually immediately go and and do front of house" for venues, churches and bars. He also described how Audio Engineering I and II build fundamentals (physics of sound, microphone use, signal routing and session workflow), then culminate in a full-band recording project where students record as teams and then submit individual mixes.

Admissions and contact: Guardiola gave a contact path for prospective students and interested community members: he said students can reach him by email (rguardiola@southplainscollege.edu) or contact program coordinator Chris Veil via the college website's program pages.

Context and limits: the remarks reflect how the department stages experiential learning and do not represent formal curriculum changes or new funding sources; the description comes from instructor comments during the Fest Week interviews.