Weedsport High School has finally done what is necessary in these rapidly changing modern times and finally started the journey towards updating all of the technology that is used by the students and staff throughout the school day. The district has hired some new faculty members with skills in the new forms of technology and has refit the school building with faster and more efficient phones and wiring. The retiring of long-time staff members Mr. DiSanza and Mr. James also sparked the opportunity for a change in the system and allow for students to take over the morning announcements.

Many of the older students and staff had grown accustomed to the daily routine of Mr. DiSanza’s voice telling the school of important information every morning. However, as time moves forward, things must change to adapt to it. The new system of announcements may take some time for people to grow accustomed to, but will hopefully become just as cherished and a part of daily life as it was in the past.

However do not get too attached to this announcement format either. Hopefully by the second semester of school, The Weedsport Morning Report will have all of the equipment and systems set up to do a daily live news report on video. This show will be streamed live daily through the projectors located in every classroom. This new way of broadcasting the announcements will provide a new and exciting start to the school day, as well as provide new opportunities to the news staff and students in general.

The news will cover the average daily announcements as well as a separate panel of anchors for things such as sports and the weather. There will also be opportunities to show small videos and sketches of Weedsport students, filmed primarily by the Johnny Green staff and the Journalism class at the end of the broadcast to lighten the mood and start the school day with a laugh.

Anyone interested in this or who wish to be a part of this broadcast would be encouraged to become a part of the Johnny Green news staff and participate in the broadcasting section of the organization. there are more than just on-screen opportunities involved so people with many different talent will find their place in the workings of the daily show.

The new phone system, as with most new things involving technology, has had its fair share of bugs and problems in its function. This problem has nothing to do with the announcers, or anyone on the “Weedsport Morning Report.” This frequent cutting out and hard to hear announcement were due to problems with the new phones not correlating well with the older PA system.

I have recently interviewed Weedsport’s newly hired Director of Operations and Technology, Mr. Chuck Roach, about some of the new features the upgraded technology in the school has to offer. Along with integrating the phone system with the school’s network, the new phones offer the ability to have voicemail being sent to the email of the person being called, a new system that locates the phone in the building that called 911, in the event of an emergency, and faster and more efficient calling system.

Mr. Roach also explained the new system for passwords on the computers, and how the complexity is an important part of ensuring the security of both school and personal data. The new password must contain at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letter, a special symbol (asterisks, dollar signs, etc.) and a number. The new password must also contain at least six characters total, not contain any part of the person’s username, or be one of the last four school passwords used in the past.

Mr. Roach also recommends not using the same password for everything, as experience working for corporate security has taught him that hackers can and will try anything to gain access to private info and multiple passwords would make that much more difficult for them to accomplish.