“Gooood morning, Great Brook Bobcats! I’m Bob,” chimes Jared Crooker (whose name, obviously, is not Bob).
“And I’m Bob,” adds his co-host, Max Shumway (also not really a Bob).
None of the boys who host the various segments of The Bobcat Morning Show every day at Great Brook School are named Bob. And none of the girls are named Cat, but that’s how all of them refer to each other – get it? Bobcat?
It’s a bit of what adviser Ellen Kidd refers to as “the middle school flair” that threads through the short daily broadcast, a result of allowing the students creative control over the content.
That results in segments like Corny Jokes (What’s white and can’t climb trees? A refrigerator.) and a calendar section where host Jared Crooker – I mean, Bob – travels into the future and has to fight monsters in between telling the school what’s happening that week. It also allows the students to explore their passions, like the Behind the Scenes segment, created by drama participant Alexis Cleary, telling students what goes into putting on the school play, or information about hunting, fishing, and outdoor safety by Jimmy Cole and Evan Shippee.
Kidd came up with the idea for the morning show five years ago, while the daily announcements were playing. “The kids weren’t listening, and it’s really boring,” said Kidd. “That’s when I thought of doing a morning broadcast.”
Kidd approached the principal, who approved the idea, and on a shoestring budget, the school purchased the basics to get a streaming broadcast recorded and played every morning.
In addition to writing the material and shooting the show, students are also responsible for putting together B-roll, transition slides, learning how to work the green screen and creating backgrounds, learning how to use sound and video editing software, and learning about the regulations that accompany broadcasting, such as copyright law.
“They have all of the control,” said Kidd. “We are facilitators. The students are running this. If they can’t do that, we don’t want to do this.”
And along with providing hands-on technical skills, the show also teaches other life lessons to the students, both in front of and behind the camera.
“The morning show needs all different kids of kids, not just the loud ones,” said student Sarah Hull. “It’s helped me open up a lot. I’m definitely not as shy.”
“It’s made me more responsible with my schoolwork,” agreed Travis Booth. “Having to meet deadlines writing my scripts.”
“I used to be really shy, and I wanted more friends. Now, everyone involved with the show is really good friends,” said Alexis Cleary. “And I’m a lot more confident.”
The ritual of the entire student body watching the announcements together has also helped to shape the culture of the school, said Kidd. The kids sing the silly lunch song and play the puzzle games and groan at the corny jokes.
And – get this – they actually listen to the announcements.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com.