“You can’t stop the rock!” is a mantra that has shaped our school year thus far. But where does it come from? One very special staff member along with her team of students popularized this slogan that has truly resonated with our school community.
Jenna Vrablic, or “Ms. V” as many call her is the media teacher here at Glen Rock High School. She first presented the idea of a morning show when she began working here four years ago. Previously implementing a live morning show at Don Bosco Prep, she had experienced the benefits of it and believed it would be a great addition at Glen Rock.
In its short time, the morning announcements have played a large role in our school community. It even contributed to the recent schedule change, which adds 6 minutes to block two.
“Don Bosco has a home room which made it easier [for watch time], but here the supervisor worked with administration and suggested it be done as an ‘independent study’,” Vrablic explained. With the change, students now have time to enjoy the announcements.
Despite the announcements being pre-recorded, the procedure is still as close to a live production as possible. Over the summer, crew and on-air talent pre-recorded episodes and got a feel for the swift process that goes into making the show. Now, they arrive during “period 0”, which begins at 7:20 am, and have about 28 minutes to do one-take recordings. The clips are edited and sent out to teachers to present, only 2 hours after being recorded.
In charge of this entire process is eleventh-grade student, Maya Gottlieb. As the showrunner, she oversees the whole morning announcement process and along with Ms. V, approves of the scripts and roll-in graphics, and gives stage direction. Wyatt Kaufman, a sophomore here at Glen Rock, is the tech engineer for the show. He helps run all the equipment including sound, the teleprompter, and graphics, and works alongside Gottlieb to edit the show.
“We’re all a team here. It’s no different than any sport.” Vrablic stated regarding the student’s efforts.
Along with her media experience at Don Bosco, she also worked in the industry with brands such as Food Network and has a lot of knowledge she wanted to incorporate into the show.
“Everything is real-world experience,” she explained with a proud glint in her eye. “I want the show to run the same as any other news station. [Our process is] like Good Day New York.”
Many, such as myself, may have perceived the phrase “You can’t stop the rock” as a play on words of our school name. And while it technically is, the song that sparked the phenomenon is an original by the band Apollo 440. Vrablic got the permissions to the song through YouTube in hopes it would catch on and be amusing for everyone watching. Through the popularity and positive feedback it’s received, it’s safe to say she accomplished her goal.
Although this process is trying, the outcome is very worth it. When asked about her purpose in bringing morning announcements to the school, Vrablic expressed, “ I want students who are creative and want to inspire the community to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I want them to be able to report the news [and] find their niche. I want everyone in the community to be heard.”
