Ribbit, Ribbit, rise and shine, Branksome Hall! Every Friday morning, a wave of information washes over the Middle School with the latest live broadcast of the Frogcast, led by Grade 8 student Anjali Cameron, Frogcast Club head, Producer and Tech Lead, and Devlin MacPherson, Senior & Middle School Innovation Lab Technician. Started in February 2025 as a pilot by Middle School student leaders for broadcast in Homeroom, Frogcast is now a fully-fledged Branksome Club with 16 student members from Grades 7 and 8. What does it take to create this “one-stop splash” for all things Middle School? Join us for this behind-the-scenes look at a week with the Frogcast team.
Work Period
Monday 12:00 p.m.
Anjali, Mr. MacPherson and Frogcast Club members gather to work on that week’s episode and brainstorm for the following week. Every episode follows the same structure: two to three student anchors share announcements (this week it’s Sarah, Annabelle and Maddie), including an Athletics update, followed by a pre-recorded segment with student field reporters, and closing with birthdays and the joke of the day.
Final Touches
Thursday 3:10 p.m.
The action ramps up on Thursday during Community Time. The episode’s lead team (it alternates between Grade 7 and Grade 8 teams) finalizes their scripts, connects with community members and completes filming for the special segment.
Run-through and broadcast
Friday 8:00 a.m.
Early Friday morning, the episode’s core team gathers in the Innovation Hub (iHUB) for a final run-through and the live broadcast. With Mr. MacPherson providing guidance, and Anjali running tech elements such as green screen backgrounds and the soundboard, anchors Sarah, Annabelle and Maddie take their positions for the five-to-seven-minute broadcast: announcements about the Middle School “Beach Bash” dance that evening, Winter team tryouts, a “finish the lyrics” segment with teachers, and, of course, the joke of the day: “What’s the difference between a dachshund and a marine biologist? One wags a tail and the other tags a whale!”
“My favourite part of the Frogcast is being able to help it grow, as the producer. We have had so many creative people join to express themselves through the broadcast this year,” says Anjali.
Mr. MacPherson loves that it inspires the community: “Seeing the crowd that forms in the lounge every Friday morning to watch together makes me really happy—I think it contributes a lot to the Middle School experience.”
The Club will get another boost next year when the Frogcast moves to the Media Studio in the basement of the new iCAST building. The future is bright for this vibrant group of students to continue their hands-on learning, strengthening their voices and communication skills one leap at a time.
