I’m sure you’ve all seen GEMS TV on PAW every few days, but have you ever wondered what goes into making all these episodes? How did we get the equipment? What inspired the creation of this show? And many other questions that, frankly, I had before I started writing this.
There are a lot of questions, such as: Was it filmed at another school? What’s the history behind the broadcasting program? Who came up with the idea to bring it here? These are just some of the many questions I wanted answers to.
To find out, I spoke with Mr. Noonan, the broadcasting teacher, who shared the history of the program with me. One interesting fact I learned was that the idea for broadcasting began at Lincoln High School with a program called “LHS Live.”
When Mr. Noonan saw “LHS Live”—which was unscheduled—he thought it would be a good idea to create a more structured, scheduled show about GEMS.
The origins of broadcasting at our school started in an old classroom with just four cameras and no microphones. The original name of the show was “Good Morning Glen Edwards.” The goal at the time was simple: to present the morning announcements in a more engaging way for students. However, over time, the show evolved beyond just announcements.
Today, GEMS TV has moved far beyond the morning announcements. Now, it features a variety of stories created by students in the broadcasting class, covering events both inside and outside the school.
Broadcasting has come a long way and is in a great place now. To answer another question, much of the funding for the program comes from fundraising, with additional support from the school.
Anchors, who once played a much bigger role in presenting the morning announcements (the original focus of GEMS TV), now focus on other aspects of the show. The announcements themselves are no longer part of the daily broadcast.
A lot goes into the broadcasting class, whether it’s the money required for equipment or the hard work the students put in to create top-quality stories. From its humble beginnings, the program has grown and evolved significantly.
Now that you’ve learned a bit more about the origins of broadcasting here—whether it was under the name “Good Morning Glen Edwards” or today’s GEMS TV—you might even wonder: do you miss the morning announcements? The answer to that is up to you!