By Milan Polk ’16

Warrior Wakeup Live, Sherwood’s morning show, went live in late September. It is mainly run by students, who are trained to do everything from recording audio to filming the show.

The school year begins with a small group of students working on the show. It is instructed by John Williams, the school’s media services technician, and Jason Daigle, the technology education resource teacher. Most students will work behind the scenes, with only a few chosen to be hosts. Giving each student’s position is the first step to production. “We try to gauge interest and see what students are interested in,” said Williams.

Williams supervises the students in the studio and Daigle handles the students that film the recorded material. Both of these aspects come together to form the daily live show, with live hosts, but also previously recorded segments such as cooking and SAT questions. Once the students learn the basics, they practice continually before they go live. “We do two or three weeks worth of dry runs,” Williams said.

One of the most important factors to the morning show is timing. The production is only allotted five minutes and thirty seconds to air, and cannot go on past the bell. This problem is a job for the assistant director, who uses a stopwatch to keep the show on time. If the show seems to be running too long, the director, who this year is senior Jennifer Jung, tells the hosts to skip an announcement or to immediately end the show to stay on schedule.

The students do not work in the same position all year, however. Those that film recorded material will eventually have a chance to work in the studio, and vice versa. The show has about four hosts who periodically switch out. Jobs are not permanent, and if one finds that they would work better somewhere else in the production, the instructors will accommodate.

Williams and Daigle like to start the show each school year as soon as the students are ready. However, if they are not ready, then they will simply keep practicing until they are down to minimal issues and can work out any major problems. “It takes a lot of trial and error,” Williams explained.