The first thing we do every day as Notre Dame students is get into our first-hour classes and wait for the latest episode of NDA Triton News to come across our screens. To the average viewer, you probably assume that it is as simple as walking into the studio and flipping a switch to make everything go, but the truth is there is a much bigger charge that takes place to make it all happen.
The Audio and Video Productions course (AV productions) has been in full swing since 2022 with Jake Gerlikovski and Frau Laaksonen at the helm.
Gerlikovski is one of the busiest guys you will ever come across, working as both a staff member at NDA, running events at school, working for the Green Bay Packers, and running his own production company. His vision for the news studio has resulted in what it has become today.
Frau Laaksonen has been teaching at NDA for over 20 years and has taken a key role in getting the newsroom put together. Frau used to co-host a morning show with Mr. Masarik during the pandemic days, so she knows what she is looking for in students who enter the studio.
Frau and Jake run the studio like a professional news production, leaving it up to the members of the team to make sure a daily show is possible. There is a script for the two anchors that needs to be written, Canva images that project on the back screen that need to be completed and the Triton Scroll that plays before and after the broadcast which needs to be updated daily.
Frau is in charge of assigning who is responsible for completing each task. Still, it is up to the member of the team to make sure it is completed in a timely manner and ready for the person assigned with Canva to complete their job and the two anchors to rehearse it before the camera turns on.
Not everyone is on camera every day, which makes it extra important that all members are pulling their weight in helping with the production of the show.
When in the studio, there are students who run the audio board, controlling the music levels and the microphone levels, a person sitting at the switcher controlling what viewers see on their screen, a person controlling the prompter where the script is being read, the Canva images in the background, and a director to help guide the ship.
Those tasks need to be completed daily, but it is no use putting in the work if there are no stories to tell.
Members of the team are tasked with finding stories happening in the NDA community to put in a short segment, whether it be a separate video or dialogue, and share it with the viewers. Recently, there have been videos on Cabaret Night and what seniors should do before graduating.
The videos also double as the main grades in the class. Instead of having a traditional test, the students in the class are given a project they will have to complete. It could be putting together a video that ends up on the air or an audio podcast that only the members of the news team will hear. The final exam is very similar; it is a large project incorporating everything the students have learned from that semester.
This is truly a class unlike any offered at Notre Dame. A real-world, life experience course offered with incredibly talented people at the top. The interest in the course is growing, especially with the way the world is now with technology playing crucial roles in daily activity. It is safe to say that NDA Triton News will be on the airwaves for many years to come.
