This year, the Bolles Bugle created a new morning announcements program that airs every Monday morning.
The goal of creating the announcements was to create a human connection that the AI announcements could not, starting with a simple greeting, “Good morning Bolles Bulldogs, given by a student, fosters human connection that a machine cannot.
Sawyer Powell ‘28 is the anchor for the morning announcements. “I wanted to create a way for students to get information from their peers instead of AI,” Powell said.
The idea of the human-to-human communication with the announcements aligns with the newly implemented phone policy, as both encourage face-to-face interaction.
Every Friday at 1:00 PM, the final list of the morning announcements for the next week is created and sent to Powell. As soon as he is able to, he then goes to the video room in Bolles Hall to film the announcements.
Inside the video room, there is a teleprompter and several cameras, but oftentimes Powell simply uses his phone to record. Powell uses his phone because, “It is easier to transfer the footage onto my computer.” The room offers everything needed, a quiet place to record, a backdrop, and chairs for Powell and those being interviewed to use.
After Powell settles in, the announcements are taped. The announcements are read from the teleprompter and shot in several takes to ensure that they are of high quality. Then another section is often added to the announcements to make them original and unique. Something that Powell decided to add was the club spotlights to help bring awareness to clubs.
Then, if a club president is appearing on the announcements they are interviewed. Powell has now mostly adjusted to the schedule, “Sometimes I am a few minutes late to practice on Fridays, but I am enjoying working on the announcements.” Most of the filming occurs either during his study hall or right after school before he heads to swim practice.
Recently, club president Hudson Stutzman ‘28 was invited on the morning announcements to talk about his club, the Rising Tides Club. “I was grateful to be called onto the announcements and share how my club makes an impact on the community,” Stutzman said.
Other clubs that have been featured on the announcements are the Olympiad in Neuroscience, the Bolles FBLA team, and the animation club. Any other clubs are welcome if they contact Sawyer as well. This so that students can promote their interests to the whole school.
Once all of the clips have been filmed, they are edited over the weekend and then sent to Ms. Marks. After her approval, the final video is sent to all of the teachers to be played on Monday morning.
Powell believes that the announcements are getting better and that each week the editing becomes easier. “I hope to make the video better and better each week as I get more experience with the editing.”
Powell hopes to include more unique additions to the announcements, “I hope for the announcements to be a way for students to promote their clubs and interests and to make it into something that students are excited to turn on on Monday mornings.” This could be videos promoting sports teams or extracurricular activities, appearances of teachers and coaches, and even adding someone to co-anchor the announcements.
Powell hopes to make these additions as the announcements gain more momentum and he gains more experience with filming and editing.
