Morning announcements have been a fundamental part of second period at Berkeley High School (BHS) for many years, but since the start of this school year, morning announcements have been sporadic. The PA system was down for the first two and a half weeks of the school year, before the announcements were replaced by video assemblies teachers are instructed to play. Now the question at hand is whether we should keep morning announcements. While some argue that they’re distracting and unnecessary, morning announcements are an important BHS tradition. We must maintain morning announcements because they fuel school spirit and unity across the student body throughout the year.
At BHS, there aren’t very many traditions that involve the whole school apart from Spirit Week, which includes Red and Gold Day. As a community, we can’t let go of the traditions we do have, morning announcements being one of the most important. BHS has plenty of school spirit, but if you aren’t an upperclassman, you may only see it at assemblies and during Spirit Week. Hearing about sport wins and other amazing things we do as a school reminds us of the spirit we easily forget about after Spirit Week. Even simply hearing the announcers say, “Go Jackets!” boosts student morale.
Morning announcements remind us that we are a part of a bigger whole. In a school as large as BHS, students must learn to become independent. However, this independence may cause BHS students to forget how important it is to be a member of the community.
Another important part of morning announcements are the chiefs of publicity. They are meant to be a sort of public figure at school, and we all know their names because they talk to us every morning. Without morning announcements, the job of chief of publicity changes altogether, and we risk losing an important part of the school’s student government.
Arguably, the most important function of morning announcements is to communicate critical information to the student body. They inform us about upcoming standardized tests, deadlines for college applications, when clubs and groups are holding events that students might want to join, and much more. Not everyone checks their email or is subscribed to the BHS E-tree. Therefore, morning announcements are vital to making sure the whole student body is aware of everything they need to know.
Students need the daily reminder that they are part of a community bigger than themselves here at BHS. Morning announcements provide that for us and it is important that we do not lose them.