For the eleventh consecutive year, students are in charge of communicating the daily announcements at the Jr./Sr. High School.
Every morning at 9:57 sharp, the Media Production class broadcasts the day’s most important news “live” from its very own studio featuring an anchor desk, green screen and control room.
The class has come a long way since its inaugural year in 2008.
“When we started, we did the announcements on the phone over the PA,” Mrs. Weissenberger, Media Production teacher, said. “Teachers would literally just walk in and hand us little notes saying, ‘please read this,’ and off we went.” 
Knowing an upgrade would be beneficial for the class and the school community, Superintendent of Schools Mr. Migliori, then Jr./Sr. High School principal, supported the class’ move to what is now the weight room, where students broadcasted the daily announcements on cable channel 99. The current news studio was created in 2011, and the class has been livestreaming the announcements ever since.
Director of Management Information Systems Mr. Cieri has been involved with the Media Production class since its inception. He oversees the class’ efforts from a technical perspective, ensuring that the technology in place is installed and operates properly.
“This class teaches skills that will last students a lifetime, extending well past the confines of the classroom,” Mr. Cieri said. “The students’ growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year never ceases to amaze me.”
Mr. Cardillo, computer aide, has gone “full circle.” He was a part of the very first Media Production class as a student. Now, he assists the class as a staff member.
“This is my second year helping out with Media Production; we’ve been doing it since my senior year,” Mr. Cardillo said. “As an alum and now staff member, it’s really neat to see how much the class has advanced with technology and everything getting bigger and better.”
What makes the class so special, according to Mrs. Weissenberger, is that it’s not just about “being on TV.” She says the class is designed to help students develop life skills they can transfer to any career - - not just journalism or public relations.
“It’s a very nontraditional class because we don’t have textbooks, tests or quizzes,” Mrs. Weissenberger explained. “It’s about coming in, meeting as a team, finding out what went right, what went wrong, and making it better.”
“Students really learn how to accept constructive criticism to improve their skill set and become both a better individual and team player,” Mrs. Weissenberger added.
The class starts at 9:30 in the morning. Before going “live,” the designated team leader follows a precise schedule. He or she first conducts a team meeting to discuss the previous day’s announcements and what went well and what can improve. He or she then assigns each classmate to a specific assignment for the day’s broadcast. There are two or three anchors, sound and graphics techs, along with a person in charge of operating the teleprompter - - all overseen by the team leader. After a few practice runs and the actual five-minute broadcast, the class huddles up for a motivating chant before departing for the rest of the school day.
On September 27, senior Isiah Peck was the leader - - a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.
“As the leader, you have to make sure everything runs smoothly, everyone has their job done and let people know if they are not doing something right or if they should do something different than what they are doing,” Isiah said. “It’s not always easy, but honest, constructive criticism is important.”
Aside from being an anchor, Isiah’s favorite part of the class is the opportunity to try all of the jobs, which are assigned on a rotational basis.
“I bounce from presenting to creating slides for our intro to running the teleprompter to making sure everything runs the right way,” Isiah said. “It’s really neat because you can’t do one thing without another person and it truly is all about teamwork.”
Danielle Flack, another senior, appreciates how the class is preparing her for her future career.
“I want to be an early childhood education teacher,” Danielle said. “Knowing that communication is a big part of teaching, I wanted to improve my communication skills, and friends told me this class would be very helpful. So, I decided to take it, and they were right because normally I would be a little hesitant to talk in front of 300 people, but now we do it all the time and I feel better about it.”
In the end, Mrs. Weissenberger says it’s all about communication.
“If I can say anything about this class, it is about gaining respect for one another and how each person plays an important role,” Mrs. Weissenberger noted. “It’s communicating what went right, what went wrong, and how I can be better.”
Which is a crucial part of life, no matter the job.