BMUFSD: Live Morning Announcements Are Back At Briarcliff High School

Press release from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

Briarcliff High School’s tradition of broadcasting live morning announcements on television screens in all classrooms is back.

This morning, Student Government Co-Presidents Nate Tannen and Karina Bar read the announcements on live television and even had a special guest who stopped by.

Although this was the first time in the school year that live morning announcements were held, everyone involved in the process did their part seamlessly.

John Gonsalves and Renato Nunez from the tech crew showed up early to set up the equipment, such as the television monitor, lighting equipment and video cart that is used to broadcast the Board of Education meetings.

“It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to set up; we try to keep it as simple as possible,” Mr. Gonsalves said. “This year we are broadcasting from room 107 at the middle school. It works well because it’s small, and we can keep the window blinds completely shut and avoid the glare on the TV monitor.”

On Mondays through Thursdays, the announcements are read on the school’s speaker system, but on Fridays teachers in period two classes project the broadcast on their television monitors.

A little after 9 am, senior Conor Duperrouzel came in to set up the teleprompter.

“My math teacher let me out early,” he said.

Student Government adviser Pam Gordon also showed up early to help supervise, and right before the start of period two, Karina and Nate came in, along with teacher Jamie Mandel.

“This is our first time doing live announcements,” Nate said. “We practiced once last night.”

When asked if he is nervous, his response was “I’m always nervous, but not particularly about this. I’m excited!”

After reading the morning news together with Nate, Karina interviewed a special guest, her friend Blake Cohen, and asked her several questions, such as her favorite food.

Karina and Nate were pleased with the segment.

“It was great,” Nate said.

“I was a little nervous,” Karina admitted.

As soon as the broadcast ended, Nate and Karina checked their phones – their friends texted them positive feedback.

“My friends all liked it,” Nate said. “They said we looked a little goofy, but they liked it.”

Both teachers and students rushed back to class, while the tech crew, along with senior and tech student Van Prigozen, broke down the equipment.

“Everybody did a great job,” Ms. Mandel said. “Big shout out to tech. Karina and Nate had only one rehearsal but I thought things went very smoothly. Thank you to Conor and Van for helping out. We hope to keep this as a Friday tradition and to keep Fridays more fun and livelier.”

The announcements are also available on the school website:

https://www.briarcliffschools.org/our-schools/briarcliff-high-school/student-life/bears-tv

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.