Dragging clips, dropping text and embedding audio, Associated Student Body (ASB) Leadership Commissioner of Publicity Ava Sigman worked for hours to edit the first ASB “Leadership Show” of the new school year. Created by a team of three students, the first video aired on Aug. 24 with subsequent episodes screened every other week during Pali Period and posted on YouTube and Schoology. 

Leadership Show host Rustin Kharrazi, a junior, said that he aims to keep students aware of Pali’s athletic updates, activities and announcements through this platform. 

Kharrazi said he believes that the show is effective in allowing students and teachers to access announcements in a more engaging, concise and organized way compared to the old PA announcement system. 

“A common issue that Pali has gone through for years and years is teacher concerns with announcement times,” Kharrazi said. “Announcements could take up to 15 minutes, and it’s a huge burden to teachers because they’re losing instructional time.” 

Kharrazi is ASB’s Commissioner of Communications for the 2022-23 school year, replacing now ASB President Peter Garff. As part of this role, Kharrazi is hosting the Leadership Show in conjunction with Tideline, Pali’s online student publication. Tideline Graphics Editor Alec Lam films the videos, and Sigman edits and co-directs the show along with Kharrazi.

Several other students are involved in the creative process. Tideline staff members Jonah Bahari, Dimitri Lykidis and Carter Russell assist Lam with filming, and ASB Commissioner of Athletics Ryan Levi occasionally gives sports updates.

Sigman, a senior, said that ideas for a show, including the script and layout, are largely spontaneous. 

“I like to think about something I could put together, and it comes out,” Sigman said. “For example, the iCarly themed one, the first one, was just an idea that popped into my head.

“Sometimes we’re not the most organized, but that’s what makes it fun,” she added. “Basically, we write down all the announcements, and we each get one we have to remember. It takes a lot of tries because we mess up a lot.” 

However, Lam said that the creative process is extensive. Filming can take up to six hours, and editing requires several additional hours.

“It’ll take up every single second of fourth period,” Lam said. “For the football segment, we went to film after school.”

Both Kharrazi and Sigman say that they prefer the video form of announcements to using the PA system. 

“I think it’s more engaging to people, we’re still finding more ways to make people have fun and make jokes,” Sigman said. “People aren’t going to be zoned out when watching the video.” 

Kharrazi said that there has been a learning curve with creating the show. 

“Especially when we’re filming the updates, we mess up a lot,” Kharazzi said. “And we just have to keep going, not let it faze us.”

The feedback ASB received for the Leadership Show was mostly positive, he added. 

However, Kharazzi said that he has learned to ignore “embarrassment in classes and not care what people [are] saying about the show.

“You’re going to get criticism for anything you do when you have something to say publicly, so I don’t really think much of it. There’s much room for improvement. We’re excited to do more.”

Editor’s Note: Alec Lam, a member of the Tideline production class, did contribute to writing or editing this story.