Since the beginning, Wildcat TV’s morning show has started the day for Dallastown students with announcements about upcoming events. Wildcat TV has also used segments to entertain the viewers watching the announcements in their classroom before they begin their first period class.

What are Segments?

Segments have been a focal point in Wildcat TV’s history. A segment is when a WCAT upperclassmen would have a section on the announcements ranging from 60 seconds to three minutes to tackle whatever goes on at school, or in their head. 

The courses of a segment can range from your “Billy On The Street” interview style, to your more interactive and opinionated style. Segments are loved by many because they would give you a name in not only the school, but the community. 

Christian Nguyen, a 2023 Dallastown graduate, says that a student that would host a segment would always be noticed.

“I saw people like Ryan Craig do a show a lot of people would know, and they would know him from the show. You had a tie to your community in terms of the school,” Nguyen said.

A segment on the announcements can be compared to that of a show on cable television. With the versatility of them throughout the years, segments have always came and gone, with each one having their own unique knacks despite the overall format being similar to each other sometimes.

All Mic’d Up

Whenever there is a segment in Dallastown, the format that is widely reused by many is the interviewer, interviewee concept. Interviewing people in the halls were widely popularized by 2015 Dallastown graduate Franklin Marquet with his segment “60 Seconds with Frankie Marquet” 

Frankie would make his videos based off of current events at school, through social media, or whatever was going on in the world.

“For instance we really liked Kyle Mooney’s Man On The Street interviews from before he worked on SNL. We tried to keep the content light hearted and we wanted our fellow classmates to start their day off with a laugh,” Marquet says.                                  

Shortly after Marquet came “Reed’s Roundabout.” Reed Mauro was a 2017 Dallastown graduate that would also use the interviewer style format for his show, but would also add his own twists to it, making it unique from the others. Mauro still continues his comedic ways on social media, still finding opportunities to make people laugh.

Another big segment that uses this format is Dylan’s Dallastown Discoveries. Dylan Aegbuniwe would walk around interviewing people about whatever would happen around the halls of Dallastown. Aegbuniwe graduated in 2018, and his segment was a trailblazer for the more recent ones in Dallastown history.

 Aegbuniwe wanted his segment to go down as one of the best shows in his years at Dallastown.

“60 seconds with Frankie Marquet was an amazing show when I was in high school and I wanted to reach those levels if not surpass it with my style of comedy and the ability to make funny situations,” Aegbuniwe  says.

The successor to DDD was Hallway Happenings with Ryan Craig. Craig used this format to ask questions, each question having its own unique twist. Hallway Happenings was a big inspiration to other video students that wanted to one day host their own segment on the Dallastown announcements.

Crazy Corridors was another interview style segment, hosted by 2022 graduate Patrick Joyce. Every monday in the 2021-2022 school year when an episode of Crazy Corridors aired, students would tune in entirely. The episodes were not only made for entertainment purposes, but also for promotional purposes, with Joyce promoting different school related events as well.

Jay & You, hosted by 2023 graduate Jayden Huncher, ran for two school years, Huncher’s junior and senior year. His segment had a grand total of 30 episodes. Huncher’s idea of the show was to use the interviewing format to ask questions about whatever random topic he would have on his mind.

Huncher used a similar method that others used for their segments in the past, but he says that his idea was to always make it different enough so that people would recognize his own show.

“I wanted to push the boundaries of what I could and couldn’t put on the morning announcements. I wanted to do the craziest things possible to try to get the biggest reactions and do things that’ve never been done before on the announcements,” Huncher says.

Getting Interactive

Another format of segment that would make its appearance in WCAT TV history are the interactive ones. The oldest one dates back to the 2015 to 2016 school year, with Hashtags. Hashtags was a take on the original show hosted by Jimmy Fallon. On Hashtags, a question would be asked, and students would reply using hashtags on Twitter, which is now called X. 

In the 2021-2022 school year, senior Ally Andrews would host her segment titled “Ally’s All Around Games” Where she would choose students in the school to participate in many different activities in the video room. Her shows would range from trivia to games like twister. Ally would always have a different activity on her show, always keeping the audience engaged and excited for the next episode.

Finally, the most recent interactive segment was Look At This Chris. Christian Nguyen would review anything that students would submit to him, ranging from video games to song albums. Nguyen’s segment ran for 2 school years, bringing a brand new concept of segments never before seen in WCAT TV history.

The reason behind Look At This Chris is because Nguyen wanted to have a segment different from the interviewer style.

“The idea that you can see your friends on tv, that was the hook. I wanted to do something where the topic itself was the hook. I would talk about movies, games and have my take on them,” Nguyen says.  

Remembering Mr. K.

Joseph Klinedinst, known by students as Mr. Klinedinst or Mr. K, was the first video production teacher at DHS and had a major impact on the students who created these segments.

In July of 2024, a tragic accident took Klinedinst from us, but he left a lasting impact on the video production students of Dallastown. 

Mr. K’s hardwork and dedication to his video class will forever be remembered by all students and fellow staff members that worked with him. He was the inspiration behind the many people that have hosted segments on the morning announcements.

When students like Jayden Huncher and Reed Mauro would explore in front of the camera, Mr. K was the “guy in the chair” making sure those shows were not only giving students a good laugh, but giving them positive energy in the mornings behind the camera. 

Segments are more than just a student talking about whatever. They can be used as gateways to greater opportunities in life. Mr. K would have ties from many different schools which had a film program, giving his students ways to be more than just a guy on the announcements.

Here are a few remarks from Dallastown alumni regarding the impact of Mr. Klinedinst: