After two years of PowerPoints with voiceovers, recent changes in the structure of the morning announcements have given Video Production students a chance to enhance their overall product. 

“I am happy about the ability to have on-air talent doing the announcements again,” Video Production teacher Ernesto Zita said. “You can see the excitement of the students each morning wanting to participate in the production. I do feel it is a huge improvement over the slideshow style announcements and there are more changes to come.”

Issues and complications with the equipment set up needed to be resolved before resuming  regular operations.

“The main thing that happened was we didn’t have the equipment needed,” junior Andrew Ben said. “Now that the equipment has come through and we have a new teacher that has more motivation, that’s what pushed us here.” 

Plans of adding new components are being made with the goal of making them more interesting and appealing to the students. 

“We will slowly be implementing news story elements to the announcements as we move forward. The weather broadcast segment has been a positive development and we hear positive feedback every time it airs,” Zita said. “I hope to improve the overall look of the announcements as we move forward with a new graphic element feel and possibly a change to a news magazine style production.”

The announcement changes have not been without challenges.

“One of the difficult challenges is trying to get the roles people actually want to have, like finding an editor if no one wants to edit,” junior Alex Taylor said. “There are also a lot of positives, like it teaches you a sense of community, teamwork and helps you learn about the specified field.”

The announcements have become more of a value to clubs this year as they return to the original format, giving them an opportunity to share more about their clubs and providing more information students can receive every morning.

“It definitely made more people want to be on the news,” Editor/Anchorman  junior Andrew Bennett said. “Last year no one really contacted us about club information, while now we have the Weather Association and are going to have a couple of other things, like more commercials.” 

Future goals for Rout(e) 131 include moving away from the morning show desk.

“An ultimate goal would be to do the announcements on a Chroma Key set where students aren’t necessarily sitting at a desk,” Zita said. “Doing it, like an entertainment tonight style show where the host is standing and delivering.”