TV studio behind the scenes

     Every morning here at HAHS students give the daily scoop on Hamburg teacher absences, lunches, sporting events and so much more, but how do they do it? The TV studio was started in 2005, by Mrs. McCarthy. At that time TV classes were on the rise and Hamburg was looking for someone to teach them here. Mrs. McCarthy has qualifications in publications and communications, so the school asked her to teach the class, but there was a problem. When she took communication classes it was similar to theater, and she had never filmed a video in her life! Despite all this, she still ended up taking on TV studio and what would become Video Communications. She ran the class very similarly to how she runs publications. Assignments are due every Wednesday and Friday and the occasional video assessment. As the years passed Mrs. McCarthy gave up her class to another teacher, who no longer teaches here at HAHS, and it eventually landed in Mrs. Eshbach’s hands. 

     Currently, the TV studio is listed as a club, but students who participate get their assigned homeroom changed to Mrs. Eshbach to help complete the announcements. Students can join the club based on interest and occasionally Mrs. Eshbach will recommend someone. Mrs. Eshbach said it takes about eight people any given day to accomplish the operation. Everyone has a specific job like flipping the broadcast slides or saying the announcements, but these positions change every week. 

     The TV studio is majorly student-run, as it always was. Currently, students film, produce, and come up with ideas for the announcements. In the past, Mrs. McCarthy says students had lots of freedom. Every Friday afternoon there was a section called “Talking with Tim” and students could turn on TVs during flex to watch students chat and talk about practically anything. 

     Mrs. Eshbach uses YouTube and OBS streaming software to provide HAHS with a message every morning. Mrs. McCarthy described using Movie Maker to create announcements and videos instead of Adobe Premier like in Publications when she taught the class years ago.

     News is recent, noteworthy information about important events, and the school somehow gives us current information according to the day, but how do they do it? Mrs. Eshbach describes a system of operations to keep information available and orderly. Any teacher that wants to have something announced that morning must email by seven a.m. or it will be announced the following day. For lunches, the cafeteria updates a spreadsheet daily on what they are serving as well as the sides. Teacher absences are updated by Mrs. Hoover in the office, and occasionally by Mrs. Bowen. All of these daily updates are added every morning, last minute, by Mrs. Eshbach. 

    The TV studio is not a new thing here at HAHS, but it has certainly evolved over time with the teachers.