It was 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning when Jacquelyn Ciarleglio’s alarm clock started blaring. On this day, most other high school students are still fast asleep, but not Ciarleglio. She is in her room, getting ready to go to the News 8 station in New Haven to observe news anchors on the News 8 Morning show. Looking in the mirror, thinking about how early she is awake and the day she is going to have, Ciarleglio reflects on how far she had come.

Once just a 7th grader watching reporter Erin Andrews for the NFL, she is now setting up a future for herself in broadcast journalism. Jacquelyn Ciarleglio is a senior at The Morgan School, and she has had her mind set on becoming a broadcast journalist since she saw reporter Erin Andrews 6 years ago.

“I have always been a huge sports watcher which was steamed by my family and have found sports analytics interesting,” Ciarleglio began. “As I love to write, putting two and two together while being in front of the camera was something that I found to be comfortable which tends to be uncommon, so that brought out who I am and what I like.”

Dream became reality on Wednesday, March 11, when Ciarleglio was invited to the News 8 station in New Haven, CT to participate in workshops and get a preview of her future career.

Ciarleglio woke up at 1 A.M. that day to go in for the morning show. There, she saw the development of putting the show together and the process of being on air from what is captured on the actual news channel.

In the beginning of the anchors’ work day, for the AM show, they arrive at the station around 2AM to begin the script of the show for the day, according to Ciarleglio. They complete this task in what they call block segments. Block segments begin with what are called A-Blocks, which are the most important stories and news that needs to be shared on the show that day.

After the A-block, they begin reporting on the B-Block, which features stories of weather, or in-depth reports. The B-Block features stories which are also important, but not as important as stories featured in the A-Block. Following that is C-Block, D-Block, E-Block, etc. These are often sports, community events, or just other light-hearted stories that should be shared but do not have the importance level of A-Block stories.

“They do block segments for organization purposes,” Ciarleglio explained. The stories can be either recent or repeated from yesterday, with more information that was sent to the station overnight. The journalists and anchors are up throughout the night texting on a text thread about latest story updates for the upcoming show before they step foot into the news station.

“Laura Hutchinson is also a part of the live stream and radio service they provide, so she will pre-record news that will be put on the radio station in the morning. At 4:00AM they go live on air until 8:00 am,” said Ciarleglio.

But the most exciting part of the day was not just being in the station for Ciarleglio. ‘I happened to be on air at the 6:45 am clip and wrote three sports stories for the AM show! I did not just watch the show, I went into the producer room, got an inside look of the website, social media room, etc. There are many people at this job and got to work alongside them,” Ciarleglio shared.

Ciarleglio has a good relationship with the anchors at the News 8 station, and has been in communication with them since she met Hutchinson, who she met for the first time around two years ago at a future path at Morgan. “The News 8 anchors have guided me to discover all sorts of new opportunities along my path. They have guided me to seek the ins and outs of what the reality behind a journalist and broadcaster is, which is doing more of the behind the scenes, finding stories, getting the real angle, broadcasting the important moment, time managing air – time, connection amongst companies and people.”

However, this was not Ciarleglio’s first time in the news station. During August of 2025, Ciarleglio participated in an internship with News 8, specifically working alongside Anchor of the Morning Show, Laura Hutchinson, and Chief Meteorologist, Gil Simmons.

“During my first internship in August, I came in around 8AM. I saw the station and went over the many parts of what the job produces and saw how they create the outline of the show and events they go off to promote. I did a lot of the same things as I did in both internships but this past opportunity was much more in depth for the show wise,” Ciarleglio reflected.

Not only has Ciarleglio involved herself with various different experiences, she has also taken Journalism, a course offered at Morgan, for 7 semesters, serving as Editor-in-Chief and Print Editor this semester. Last year, English teacher Eric Carroll took over the class of Journalism, and completely forefronted changing the program. Ciarleglio has assisted him in many ways to bettering the program.

“So Jackie’s someone who kind of demands structure, and feels comfortable in a world of structure,” Carroll shared. “She’s been kind of a resource or a teammate in trying to nail down the day-to-day habits, the agendas, to get to those goals.”

“Wherever she ends up, if she goes into the journalism world, I can imagine her, whether on TV or behind the scenes, she’s someone who kind of, again, thinks about the steps it takes to get to a final product,” Carroll said.

As well as working closely with Carroll in the Journalism program, Ciarleglio has been working alongside senior Assistant Editor-in-Chief Emily Kravitz for 4 semesters now, all of those semesters being in the same class as Ciarleglio. “Jackie and I work closely in class especially since we have always worked together. We have always gotten along, and I have loved getting closer with her throughout the years,” Kravitz shared.

“​​I have seen her progress with getting things done and just all around being very accountable,” Kravitz remarked. “If you ask her to do something she will always get it done in a timely manner. I think that’s going to be one of the biggest game changing qualities for her in the future.”

Ciarleglio keeps up with her work, stays on top of everything and is extremely organized in every aspect of her life. It does not go unnoticed by anyone who works alongside her. Ciarleglio has shown to her peers and teachers she has a future ahead of herself and it is very bright.

“I think a lot of people talk about what they want to be in life, especially high school seniors. They say they want this, or they’re gonna major in that, but Jackie exemplifies as someone who actually goes and gets it, and that means emailing and contacting, networking, and waking up at one in the morning to do something, and, you know, she’s an example of what people should be when they want, want to choose something. I think it’s important to point out the level of hustle that she shows,” said Carroll.

“She sets herself up for success by staying organized and motivating her group to stay organized as well,” Kravitz noted.

Ciarleglio has recently committed to High Point University, and plans on majoring in Broadcast Journalism, a surprise to no one. As shared by her peers and teachers, Ciarleglio has a bright future ahead of her, and the Morgan Pawprint is excited to see what she will accomplish in her future.

This link is video clip from Wednesday the 11th, when Ciarlegio went on air at News 8 alongside Laura Hutchinson, who has been a mentor for Ciarleglio throughout her introduction to the journalism world.