Danielle Lyon ‘26
EE Managing Editor
Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Editor-In-Chief
With another year of elections upon us, Trumbull residents have taken it upon themselves to get out the vote! With a steadily increasing voter turnout and campaign signs on every street corner, the democratic spirit is in full swing as the enticing atmosphere of political competition permeates the air. Furthermore, where there is competition, there is coverage, and local news stations and papers have taken to the air to discuss the now finalized voting results from the November 4th Trumbull elections. No news station did this more emphatically than our very own Trumbull Community Television, filmed right here in the studio at Trumbull High!
Interestingly, what was unique about this Election Night Show was not only the coverage itself, but who reported on it. For years, TCTV’s Election Night results were covered by adults as normal. However, in recent years, accomplished Trumbull High School Social Studies teacher Katie Boland pushed for the Election to be covered by students. Specifically, by the team members of her prestigious BICEN/We the People team.
Trumbull High has had an extensive involvement in the We the People program since its inception in 1987. With over 29 State Championships, BICEN 2026 is aiming for number 30 this year! Thirteen of those 29 fall under the belt of Katie Boland, who has shaped the program into a juggernaut contender since her appointment in 2012. For Election Night, students volunteered their time as anchors, producers, and poll workers to bring the election results from all 7 districts to over 1,000 live viewers on YouTube. But what went on behind the scenes? How was the live viewing made, produced, and ultimately brought to light for all of Trumbull to see? Lucky for us, we have two members of Trumbull High’s We The People team writing what you’re reading right now…
(Jude) As a main anchor for the production, I got an incredible opportunity to be on camera for almost the entire night. I did this along with my fellow co-hosts Sean Galla and Naomi Mickens. Together, we prepared around 10 minutes of script to read off a teleprompter for our opening section. Despite our nerves, we put it together and delivered a powerful introduction to Trumbull High’s coverage. Between different sections of our coverage, we panned over to our side anchors for stories on topics relating to history, THS happenings, and Trumbull in general!
While we had a script for our opening section, the rest of the night was improvised by the three of us as we alternated between pre-selected topics and on-the-spot conversation starters. With Mrs. Boland frantically throwing up directions as our floor manager, we balanced stalling for time on air while reporting in the district results throughout the night.
Districts 1-5 went smoothly, but unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties at the polls, we were forced to cut our show short before reporting districts 6-7. Still, the night remained a great success for all members involved, especially the main and side anchors who were on for a significant portion of the night.
Me and my fellow anchors would like to take this chance to thank Ms. Lara Walden, executive producer of TCTV, for running the show and giving us this incredible opportunity in the first place. And of course, our incredible teacher, Ms. Boland for being a phenomenal floor manager and teacher in general. However, we don’t just have the perspective of myself from in front of the camera, we have the perspective of the lead producer behind it. Care to take it away, Danielle?
(Danielle) That’s right, Jude! While some members of our We The People team were on camera discussing the incoming polls, Trumbull’s history, and recent events, others were hard at work behind the scenes ensuring everything ran smoothly.
Members of BICEN and Rho Kappa took on crucial production roles, serving as stage managers, teleprompter operators, and poll number counters. Personally, I worked as a teleprompter for our side anchors, helping them follow their scripts seamlessly as they spoke. At first, we ran into a minor technical hiccup, as the font size on the printed script was too small for the anchors to read comfortably. However, after a few quick reprints, we were back on track so that the production continued to run smoothly.
Behind the scenes, Ms. Boland and a dedicated group of volunteers directed the entire production team, keeping everyone coordinated and giving cues, especially when the vote counts started coming in from each district. Speaking of districts, the behind-the-scenes effort extended far beyond the studio at Trumbull High School. BICEN and Rho Kappa scholars were stationed at each district, carefully counting ballots and reporting results back to Ms. Boland and the on-air team. Although we experienced a few technical issues that prevented us from reporting results from Districts 6 and 7, the overall district polling process was a huge success. It was truly inspiring to see so many students working together, both on and off camera, to bring the entire broadcast to life.
With that peak behind the scenes, you now have the full worldview on what went into making this incredible election night happen. Trumbull’s We the People team will continue to be on air during election night, and the experience we have gained in the studio will ultimately help guide us to victory out there on the competition floor, too. It is encouraging to see the involvement of young, active minds in community projects, and we hope this trend of teen participation and initiative continues into other areas as well. The votes have been tallied, the polls have closed, and our 2025 election night has finally come to a close. Good luck to the new administration, good luck to Trumbull’s We The People team, and good luck to the bright future of civics education and coverage in Trumbull for years to come…