Senior Jasmine Coates is the lead producer of the student-run school broadcast Husky Headlines that was revived in the 2023-24 school year. The idea of a student-run broadcast was created by 2022 alum Maddie Bean. However, “it was not lived out past the first episode,” said Coates. Coates was persistent and not going to give up after only one episode. “I have always wanted to bring it back, so I sat down with Digital Art teacher Ms. Catherine Huber. We knew that we could bring it back and make it last.”
Coates and her team of seniors, Ayan Chowdhury, Everett Jones, PJ Lyons, and Cooper Wesley – along with Harriet Hosking and Daniel Kalan, who joined later in the year – released a total of 12 episodes split amongst two seasons last school year (23-24). The first episode was released on September 29, 2023. The first thing covered in the episode was what Husky Headlines is as a whole. Wesley explained it as “everything in student life.” Lyons informed the viewers that they could watch the episodes “Fridays at 2:15 PM in advisory.” The whole team interviewed students of every grade as well as teachers and asked them who they thought would win the homecoming football game. The video also covered content on the club fair and introduced a plethora of club leaders and had them share their club vision. Students were interviewed on their heights’ to find out the average height of a Flint Hill student. Finally, to close out the video there was a lunch date with former SCA President Rhett Pomeroy (‘24). The production team this year plans on consistently releasing videos every other Friday to be found on the Flint Hill Upper School Daily Report.
As videos continued to be released last school year, the broadcast gained traction as well as interest to join the team. The most popular table at this year’s club fair was Husky Headlines with 65 signups to be considered to join the team. Coates was overwhelmed with applicants and said, “unfortunately because there is just not enough news for a 60+ staffing team, we have begun to cut that number down.” The Husky Headlines team made a plan to be split into two phases. Coates broke this down like so: “Phase 1 is via attendance. We required everyone who signed up to show out to both our interest meetings and if they did not attend they were removed from the opportunity to be members of the team. This was done because, in Husky Headlines, attendance and commitment is key. We have very quick turnarounds for episodes, so we really need everyone present at every meeting. Phase 2 is via video creation. After Phase 1 concluded, we put everyone in groups and told them to make their own mini “Husky Headlines episode.” This was done because we are dedicated to not expanding our team based on a student’s popularity, but rather their work ethic and their ability to contribute to the group.”
Coates left with one final remark “I hope following my time at Flint Hill that Husky Headlines will act as my legacy and always remind future students that I worked from the beginning to the end of my time at Flint Hill towards amplifying students’ voices in and out of the classroom, on the stage, and on the field.”
Husky Headlines is here to stay as long as the student body keeps it vibrant. Make sure to remind advisors every other Friday to watch the new releases as away to wind down before breaking for the weekend. The next upload is on Friday, October 4, 2024.
