GILROY
– Friday mornings at St. Mary School start peacefully enough.
Students attend their morning prayer session, as usual. But after
they break to head into classrooms, anticipation mounts as members
of the student council gather, nervously excited, to offer the
morning’s announcements – on live TV.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Friday mornings at St. Mary School start peacefully enough. Students attend their morning prayer session, as usual. But after they break to head into classrooms, anticipation mounts as members of the student council gather, nervously excited, to offer the morning’s announcements – on live TV.
The seventh- and eighth-grade students provide all the news that’s fit to act out, from local events to sports to interviews.
Thirteen council members crowd around their small set that consists of one table, large enough to accommodate two students, making sure they stay out of the range of a hand-held camera operated by Matt DiPietro.
As commissioner of communication, Lauren Reiner is in charge of the morning announcements and the Friday broadcast.
“It’s hectic because everyone’s kind of nervous, and it’s hard to get them all where they need to be,” Reiner said. “But it usually just happens.”
Student council meets midweek to brainstorm ideas for the big show, and everyone seems to end up on camera at least once during the broadcast.
“A lot of the kids are funny on their own,” Reiner said, “so it just naturally comes out because of their personalities.”
With only 10 minutes to squeeze in all their news, public service announcements and even commercials, the students maintain a feverish pace, rapidly moving on and off camera in turn.
On one typical Friday, after the “three, two, one” countdown to air time, sports anchors Dominic Filice and Justin Wheat burst into camera range, performing a skit about hockey. They quizzed viewers, and one lucky live volunteer, with sports trivia.
Next came the weekend’s entertainment news, a listing of movies playing locally that St. Mary students might be interested in. (None were rated R.)
Alex Einhorn, host of “Al’s Extremely Small Program,” was next on camera, interviewing a school safety patrol officer and cracking jokes.
Other highlights included a read-a-thon announcement featuring a shark mascot, a warning that multiple sweatshirts were cluttering up the lost and found, a potato chip commercial, an anti-smoking ad, and a rousing rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song performed for two students celebrating that day.
Council members verbally broadcast morning announcements every day but the Friday morning show is a treat for the entire school, said Vicki Brinkman, director of development. On an average morning, students at the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school keep one ear on the spoken announcements, but on Fridays, they give their undivided attention to watching the student council frolic about on-screen.
Student council members created the morning variety show in 2002, and it’s been going strong ever since.
“The kids came up with the idea and put their heads together,” said Brinkman, marveling at the students’ “energy and enthusiasm.”
The school was specially wired in order to broadcast the announcements to each classroom, she said.
