New SHS video announcements need improvement

In an attempt to bring students together, Solon High School started weekly video announcements. Unfortunately, it backfired through its showcasing of only a select demographic of Solon students and its unprofessionalism.

This new segment runs weekly on Fridays after the regular morning announcements. It includes the upcoming news for that day and the week after, while incorporating light hearted jokes. While the idea of video announcements is great, the execution was sloppy and unprepared.

Between the cast reading off of a visible sheet to lack of passion, the first video announcement was hard to watch. The information and little skits within the announcements were great, but the people featured seemed to be the typical popular crowd. On top of that, they seemed to take the announcements as a joke.

“I believe they are not well organized or professionally made,” SHS senior Carter Asnien said. “The people in the announcements don’t talk clearly or with enthusiasm. I remember that one of the girls was reading off of a paper…I don’t feel a connection to the announcer.”

Asnien’s statement seemed to be the consensus amoung some students, while others genuinely liked the announcements and thought they could eventually bring unity between the students.

“I don’t think the video itself brings students together, but the idea of something creative and fun does.” SHS sophomore Liana Cirino said.

The cast, however, joined to contribute to something bigger than themselves, to promote school spirit.  

“I decided to become a part of them because I believe in helping our school become more involved in school spirit,” said Meghan Komorowski, a member of the video announcements. “I also thought the idea of doing them was really creative and fun.”

While the second video was significantly better, and included more light-hearted jokes to raise school spirit, there still seems to be room to improve professionally. I enjoyed the incorporation of the Student Council heads, Sydni Burg and Henry Don, explaining spirit week and homecoming information.

Another thing that stuck out was senior Michael Tsironis’ energy compared to the rest. His segments were much more interesting and funny than the cast from the previous video. The second installment seemed to only have problems with professionalism, like using a water bottle as a microphone in a skit and the video format changing from horizontal to vertical. However, these can improve throughout time and funds, and the head of the new segment agrees.

“I knew [the video announcements] wouldn’t be a high quality production at first but I am hopeful that it will grow into something much greater,” said Melissa Fitzgerald, the adviser in charge of the video announcements. “I will work my hardest to make it better and better, but ultimately I am hopeful that eventually it will be part of a class that produces the videos in the television studio with teleprompters and the higher tech editing equipment in the building.”

The biggest issue is the lack of diversity within these announcements. It seemed to only promote football games and showcased only a particular group of people in the senior class. As a nerd-at-heart kind of girl, it’s hard to connect with the speakers that I have nothing in common with. I would want smaller clubs like CometSoft, Gay-Straight Alliance and others to be included in the announcements. By only promoting football, it makes most people in other clubs and sports feel unimportant and uncelebrated within the school. Drama Club is a huge part of this school, and just as big, if not bigger, as the football team. I didn’t see any promotion of the first meeting which falls on the same day of homecoming. If these announcements are going to unite us, they should incorporate more of the great things this school has and include the geeks, athletics and art freaks in the cast.

While I do believe Fitzgerald is trying her hardest to make these videos incorporate multiple students, the limited timing and resources prevent her from doing so.

“My opinion on the first announcement is that there is a lot of room for improvement,” Fitzgerald said. “I got a lot of feedback, some good, some not so good, but I am proud of the fact that we took the idea of announcements and made it into a reality. I am proud of the kids for stepping up in commons and helping me… we had very little time with very little resources, so I think it turned out well, all things considered.”

Overall, I have hope for improvement on these video announcements. The creativity is there, the technology can improve, as well as the professionalism, but it’s really just a matter of diversity and enthusiasm.

“I think it is a work in process,” SHS principal Erin Short said. “I know some students have been critical but what they must understand is these students are volunteers and have limited resources and limited time…  I would say I very much appreciate the efforts of the kids and Mrs. Fitz and look forward to growing and improving the product we put out.”