The bell rings, the microphone clicks on, and voices from the speakers cut through the morning chatter. For the next three minutes, thousands of students are given a glimpse into the clubs, events, and opportunities happening that week throughout the school.
The morning announcements have traditionally been read by Student Council (StuCo) members, this year’s members being Kenneth McCarthy, Senior Class President, and Ariella Magnus, Sophomore Appointed Representative, Dr. Mark Maranto, Assistant Principal of Student Activities, said. While StuCo members typically have this role, any student can volunteer to be a guest reader by going down to the SAO and informally practice reading an announcement script to see if they are fit for the role, Maranto said.
“The process used to be that students who were interested would formally audition for it,” Maranto said. “We’ve moved away from that because there used to be a lot more interest from students, but that hasn’t been the case in the last couple years.”
Teachers and club sponsors submit information they want on the announcements onto a shared document, which Amelia Alpert, Executive Assistant of Student Activities, then compiles and edits into a script for the student readers. The document is open weekly and can be updated throughout the week, Maranto added. Maranto then dials a designated code through a phone, connecting them live to the school’s PA system, he explained.
“There’s two ways to do the morning announcements, one is you press a microphone button and then you’re live, but we’ve noticed that there was some distortion from that mic,” Maranto said. “So we do the morning announcements through a phone. I dial in a code and then it beeps and they’re live.”
Student announcers arrive at the office 10 minutes before the bell rings and spend time chatting before getting ready, Magnus said. Stepping up to the microphone has become both a way to stay connected to school activities and an opportunity to practice public speaking, Magnus added.
“My favorite part of doing the announcements is being the first one on the PA, saying good morning to everyone, and telling everyone about the activities for the day,” Magnus said. “It’s a rewarding experience when people come up to me and ask questions about activities because they know I’ve read it off the announcements.”
It is important that students at South have access to information relevant to them because it is important for student engagement, McCarthy said.
“It’s interesting being able to read the announcements and see all of the different clubs going on around our school,” McCarthy said. “It introduced me to clubs that I didn’t know that I was going to be interested in.”
