Whats the deal with Hello Hawks?

Every morning, during the beginning of 2nd period, almost every student at Lakeland High School sits in anticipation in a dark room staring at their teacher’s projector waiting for Hello Hawks to start.

Eventually, the student-led production begins and students listen to their morning announcements. 

How did this almost ritualistic trend start at Lakeland?

Hello Hawks has been going on for over six years. Originally, it started with Allison Knoll, a teacher at Lakeland and the current advisor of the show, who went to Trent Derrick, Lakeland High School’s principal, with a problem.

Students at LHS were not getting announcements in the morning, whether it be the intercom system not working, or them just not paying attention. Knoll’s initial idea was to have a readerboard in the cafeteria to have students read the announcements. However, Derrick liked the production class at Timberlake High School and wanted to replicate something similar at Lakeland.

“I originally didn’t know anything about how to set up something like Hello Hawks, but I had a new class, Stagecraft II, for the first time and decided to hand the project to them and Hello Hawks took over,” Knoll said.

What is the process for producing the show?

If teachers want to make an announcement, then they fill out a form and give it to Knoll. The executive producer of the show then takes the announcements and gives them to the producer who then, in turn, writes a script. The producer also runs the teleprompter. 

The next step belongs to the tech director who sets up the broadcast and runs all of the videos or images that help with the announcements. 

“If things go well, it’s because of the tech director. If they don’t, it’s because of the tech director,” Knoll said.

What is it like being on Hello Hawks?

Most people would think that live streaming yourself can be scary, however, Lakeland High School senior and Hello Hawks anchor, Richard Thomas, is unfazed when live streaming to the who school. 

“It is pretty cool to be on air every day. At the beginning of the year, it was pretty nerve-racking, but you get over it, then you just be yourself,” Thomas said. 

Mason Burcham, another LHS senior and Hello Hawks anchor, has noticed a change in the production since his freshman year.

“I remember last year’s Hello Hawks was almost hard to watch. I would say that Richard and I definitely have helped this year,” Burcham stated.

“It’s definitely gotten easier on the eyes,” Thomas added.