Broadcasting Club students are photographed during their twice-weekly morning announcements broadcast.

January 14, 2009 - Shaker High School's Broadcasting Club has expanded its activities to include a twice-weekly morning announcements program.

The club now broadcast's a five-minute program on Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing students, faculty and staff with news about Shaker High events and activities that take place during the week.

The broadcasts include general announcements, as well as video clips of sporting events and other school events, such as the Halloween Parade, Shaker Idol and others, said Kevin Smith, the club's faculty adviser.

Taking on the morning announcements provides benefits to the high school community and the club's students, Mr. Smith said.

"The delivery of the morning broadcasts are a better way to deliver information to the students and faculty because the visual nature of the program helps grabs everyone's attention," he said. "Plus, the delivery of the morning show provides students with real job related duties they may encounter in the world of broadcasting."

The Broadcasting Club was founded four years ago and has previously taken on numerous projects that include the Safe at Home in Colonie television show, the Cool School competition and Shaker’s 50th Anniversary video.

Currently, the club has about twenty members. Each day before classes start, about one dozen members meet at the studio in a team to develop a script, and members are then selected to be anchors for upcoming broadcasts. Club members who are not part of the morning announcements team meet after school on Wednesdays with Smith and the morning team to work on  projects that provide skills needed to be invited into the morning announcement team in the future.

Junior Kevin Angstadt joined the club as freshmen, after taking Mr. Smith's broadcasting class.

"I really enjoying the broadcasting environment," said Angstadt, who also participated in the junior high school's broadcasting club when he was a student there. "I have become more and more involved in the club and have been a part of the group as it grew from developing small projects to weekly announcements," Angstadt said.

Broadcasting Club students learn to produce the morning announcements program.

Jennifer Steverson, also a junior, became interested in broadcasting as a freshman and decided to take Mr. Smith's class as a sophomore.

"Mr. Smith asked me if I would like to join the club because he could see that I'd like to make broadcasting a part of my future," Steverson said. "With all of the club's hard work, we have been able to produce morning announcements that are broadcast throughout the school, as well as many other projects for the school and the community."

The club developed a Wiki page that allows people to watch broadcasts and a Wiki form that allows people to submit announcement information for future broadcasts.

Morning Announcement Broadcasting Club members are: faculty adviser Kevin Smith, Kevin Angstadt (Club Officer), Corey Lopez (Club Advisor), Patrick Burns, Alex Christian, Meghan Dickson, Alexandra Hite, Benjamin Lindsay, Renee Marsolais, Emily MacDonald, Animesh Mehrotra-Hajela, Garrett Ost, Jennifer Steverson and Zachary Dooley.

After School Club Members are Hannah Pierce, Blake Courtright, Connor Dodd and Anthony Cosgrove.

The Morning Announcement Broadcasting Club members meet in the studio during homeroom every morning between 7:00 – 7:30AM. After school club activities meet on Wednesdays at 2:30 in room C205.