GOOD MORNING EAGLES, and welcome to an inside look into the morning announcements. I appear on Facebook and YouTube at 8:15am every school day to bring the students and parents of Archbishop Shaw information and important notices.

It all started with an

idea from Fr. Steve, our

Director and Head of

School: what if students

could see what’s hap-

pening instead of just

listening over the P.A.

system? While the school

had run some tests in the

past, it never amounted

to anything long-term.

The immediate solu-

tion was simple: online

video conferencing. We

had used such software

during the COVID-19

pandemic, so it was an

easy transition for most

teachers and students. Every morning, students

would set up a laptop, start a video meeting, and

wait for everyone to join.

This obviously has some limitations with

per-haps the biggest being that it was difficult to

share with the outside world. Starting this year,

we’ve been able to stream online and to the

public.

Myself along with two of my classmates, Al-

drich Wilberg and John Paul Bui, arrive at school

thirty minutes before to setup. Presently, it consists of a

computer with streaming software and a “broadcast” cam-

era from the late 2000s (if anyone is interested in helping

us upgrade, please contact Mr. Brandon Surrency in Ad-

vancement). While there’s always room for improve-

ment, I’m proud that we’ve been able to pull in what’s

on hand to make this possible. It’s quite the accom-

plishment for those guys to pull it off every day!

My task is to find the day’s gospel reading from the

lectionary and to work with Mrs. Rhonda Bourg to or-

ganize and revise the morning announcements. With so

many sports, clubs, and other events, there’s a lot to go

through! By 8:10am, we are running last mintue tests

before we go live.

Despite our hard work, things don’t always go ac-

cording to plan. While they’ve been few, we sometimes face

network or software issues that can bring the production to

a halt. Other times it can be the on-screen talent: I can get

ahead of myself and start speaking faster than I’m actually

reading.

The best way to cope with this problem is just laugh-

ing it off. Literally. That’s

probably why I smile

so much during the an-

nouncements. It’s also a

great opportunity for us

to see ways we can im-

prove. For instance, it can

be difficult to read from

my iPad and keep eye

contact with the camera.

We’re working on a solu-

tion in the form of a small

tele-prompter. Unfortu-

nately, we do not have a

budget, but God always

provides a way!

Overall, being the

“Announcements Guy”

has helped me develop skills that I don’t think I

would have been able to acquire otherwise. While I

sincerely enjoy and appreciate being the “face” of

Shaw, I simply relay the message. The people be-

hind the screen deserve the real credit. One other person who is underappreciated here at Shaw that

helps with everything tech (and everything not) is

Mr. Alex Cormier.

I hope the second half of my celebrity life goes

just as smoothly as the first. Have a Shawesome day!