By Tyler Dahlgren

For five minutes every morning, students at Sandy Creek Elementary stop what they’re doing and tune in. At 8:15 sharp, classrooms fall quiet and the Clear Touch televisions flicker on. 

Two fifth-grade anchors, calm and cool and savvy well beyond their years, appear on screen. The show begins.

“Good morning, Cougars!”

Welcome to Cougar Talk — the daily student-run newscast that’s grown into a beloved tradition since the first episode aired in the fall of 2021. Since then, the telecast has grown into a confidence-building engine, and a showcase of personality in a school and a district where technology and creativity go hand-in-hand.

Cougar Talk had simple beginnings. In the spring of 2023, as the district prepared to purchase Clear Touch interactive TVs with ESSER funds, a lightbulb went off in the mind of Technology Integration Specialist Krista Calderon. 

“I looked at my principal and said, ‘Hey, we could do morning announcements,’” Calderon said. “It just kind of grew into something really fun that the whole school gets excited about from there.”

By October 2021 the first Cougar Talk aired. Since then, Calderon’s students have recorded more than 700 episodes, and the show has become a rhythmic part of the school day. Birthday announcements, weather forecasts, lunch menus, various reminders and the Pledge of Allegiance, all delivered by talented fifth-grade broadcasters who take the job seriously.

They also know how to have fun.

The morning show is more tightly structured, with a run-time of about five minutes, Monday through Friday. Friday afternoons, just before students excitedly break for the weekend, however, have been coined Cougar Highlights, something students have come to anticipate all week.

Throughout the week, teachers upload fun photos from classrooms and activities. Calderon then compiles them into a weekly montage.

“It’s one of my favorites,” she said. “Watching kindergarteners sit back with their backpacks and watch the Highlights video, it’s so cute.”

It has also become a treasured way for students to feel seen and celebrated. Younger students often spot siblings, friends, or even themselves on the big screen. They point and giggle and end every week on a high note.

Though Cougar Talk is watched by every grade, only fifth graders produce it. In five years, it’s become a rite of passage. The first cohort of fifth graders to broadcast the show are freshmen over at the high school now.

At first, Calderon tried rotating larger media teams through each quarter. She quickly learned that fewer students in the room made a calmer, more successful production. Now she keeps a master list, ensuring every willing fifth grader gets a turn.

And yes, many eagerly wait for the day they reach fifth grade and finally get to sit in the anchor chair.

“It’s definitely been a learning process,” Calderon said. “But the kids look forward to it. They know, ‘When I’m in fifth grade, I get to do this.’”

Cougar Talk isn’t just an announcement system. It has naturally evolved into a living classroom of digital media skills.  Calderon, who teaches computer science, started incorporating new segments like lunchroom expectation videos led by student council members. She also allows students to learn video editing, a job initially assigned to a shy fifth grader who preferred to be behind the camera.

“He took so much pride in it and did an amazing job,” she said. “It was a huge help for me, but also a confidence boost for him. I have a couple students lined up to help on the production side next semester.”

Those lessons extend beyond technology. Students learn public speaking, teamwork, interviewing skills, and, sometimes most importantly, how to handle mistakes. Those happen, but the camera keeps rolling.

“I purposely leave the bloopers in,” Calderon said. “It shows that mistakes are okay, and the kids end up laughing at them on Fridays.”

Sandy Creek already has a reputation for strong digital media programs at the middle and high school levels. NPSA has featured the innovation going on at the high school over the years, most recently the school’s digital technology program. Calderon sees Cougar Talk as a natural bridge for younger students.

“Some of them have said, ‘When I get to sixth or seventh grade, can I help with the Hudl team or Cougar Vision?’” she said. “It gets them interested early.”

Exposure also comes through real-world experiences. Calderon regularly takes her media students to education and technology conferences, giving them chances to talk to adults, present, and represent the district. We first met the students at the Fall Ed Tech Conference in Kearney in early November, where they shared their program with conference-goers.

“The kids love getting out of school for a day, and it’s always a good experience for them,” she said. “Even riding the escalator at the conference in downtown Omaha was a highlight.”

Part of Cougar Talk’s magic is the personalities behind the desk. On Fun Fridays, anchors dress up in various costumes, crack jokes, and lean into the kind of humor that lights up an elementary school building every single day.

"On Fridays we get to dress up and just act silly and tell jokes and be funny and then hopefully make the little kids laugh," said fifth grader Riggyn Gierhan. "That’s the best part."

Fellow anchor Grant Imler agreed. 

“It’s fun to be here and talk about what’s going to happen,” Imler said. “Everybody gets to see what we do.”

For many students, the excitement started years before they ever stepped in front of the camera.

“I remember watching it and being nervous,” Imler continued, “but then we did it and it was actually really fun.”

Cougar Talk has also become a quiet tool for growth, especially for students who may struggle with speech or confidence. Calderon has watched fifth graders work hard to pronounce tricky letters, develop clearer diction, and become braver on camera. Teachers who once knew them as kindergarteners now get to see them on screen, polished and poised. 

“It’s fun to see how much they’ve grown and how much they mature,” she said.

And the students have their own advice for the next class coming up.

“Try and not even think about the camera,” said fifth grader Delaney Shaw. “It’s always best to try and be yourself.”

Gierhan echoed her friend’s sentiment, and said that being confident is key.

“It’s just really a lot of fun,” she said. “Enjoy it while you get to do it.”

Calderon occasionally looks back at those early episodes. She sees those fifth graders then, and thinks of them now. Time flies, and it’s a reminder of how quickly students grow. It’s also a reminder of how meaningful their time anchoring Cougar Talk was. The kids are telling their school’s story, day by day.

Cougar Talk isn’t just a morning announcement program. It’s a living scrapbook, a source of joy woven into Sandy Creek’s school culture.

Every morning at 8:15, when the lights turn on and the fifth graders smile into the camera, the whole school community gets a little reminder of what makes Sandy Creek Elementary special. Five minutes pass, and they’re ready to get the most out of another day.

One day, Calderon hopes they'll look back at those five minutes as a core memory. Perhaps they already do.

"I just like everything about it," said Shaw. "I love being a part of this."