At the end of the last school year, we published an editorial entitled “Dear Mr. Nolan.” Within the editorial, we covered the wide variety of changes we would like to see in the school—one of the changes we asked for was Mr. Nolan’s voice on the daily announcements. This would serve as a means for communicating directly with students about certain policies, rather than being limited to the announcements via email. 

     Our request was fulfilled. Every day, Mr. Nolan’s voice rings on the PA. While we appreciate this, it is equally important that some content be made the most relevant to students—our original intention with the request. Some first-hour courses especially do not have this time to waste in a 47-minute period. We are well aware that Mr. Nolan cannot encapsulate everything going on in the school—but, there are more timely issues that can be addressed in the morning. 

     A week ago, for example, students walked into the school confused about the email server going down—questions of uncertainty lingered in the halls: when would the issue be fixed? Is your email down as well? This is one instance where communication was needed, and the announcements could have directly helped to alleviate these concerns, rather than having students play a waiting game. Moreover, highlighting groups such as Theatre was nice to hear, especially as we do not hear about them often—but rarely is this done on the announcements, and we’d like to continue to see these groups discussed. 

     Rather than reiterating the same rules daily, it would be nice to see a brief discussion on the club and athletic call-out meetings throughout the school, or an acknowledgment of some changes the school undertakes. Students know about the no-phone policy, and they know to not wear hats in the building—what they may not know, however, is why they need to take out instructional time to change their passwords during first period, or that they can donate cans to the food drive well in advance. Not only does our staff reflect these sentiments, but several students responded to our opinion backtalk question—the answers ranged, but most reported wanting the announcements to contain more substance. Though this is not just important for students—several teachers can find a benefit in being given general announcements directly related to them, instead of being confused via email. 

     One of the intentions behind the announcements was to give students a breather before the day begins—but in actuality, it serves as more of an excuse for tardiness. We know that a connection attempt is being made, and we are grateful to have that form of presence in the first place. But as they stand now, the morning announcements are not sufficient enough, nor do they establish this connection—even more, we would prefer that a goal is set to give others information in the most timely and concise manner possible.