We’ve all heard them before, whether on the PA in elementary and middle school or on YouTube during high school – The daily announcements.  They’re supposed to inform us about what’s going on at school, if there’s any sudden changes we must know, and any opportunities we can take advantage of. 

They are so important because they allow us to plan ahead for our schedule, make informed decisions for our future, and allow us to prosper with new information we can use to better our lives. That is what they are meant to do, but do they actually get the information out effectively?

In an informal survey of 251 students, there was a general satisfaction with the announcements. More than 80% of respondents say they pay attention to the daily announcements and around 75% of their teachers play the announcements. 

“I pay attention to them,” senior Arissa Moore said, “but some days they are really repetitive and I feel that everything is literally the same thing as the day before.” According to the survey, 76% of students agreed that the announcements are repetitive.

Activities Director Claudia Chaidez feels the announcements are a great way to inform students and staff about all the activities here at Alisal, and the repetition is necessary. “Knowing students, if we don’t repeat them, they’re gonna miss it,” she said. “They’re gonna complain regardless, if we repeat too much, or we don’t repeat it at all. They’re either gonna say ‘we missed it, or it’s too repetitive.’ We’d rather repeat it, so they don’t miss it because if they miss it, then they’re gonna blame us for not repeating it.”

Another complaint was that senior information, specifically cap and gown orders, was not disseminated in a timely fashion. However, after watching all the announcements from September, these claims are blown out of proportion. Back in September and October, pre-purchasing for cap and gowns was announced every week.  In the 2 weeks leading up to the on-campus cap and gown purchasing, from April 2nd to April 3rd, cap and gowns were announced everyday.

Some students believe some sports are being disproportionately recognized compared to others, but that’s also incorrect. 

In the fall, cross country was mentioned 16 times, girls’ volleyball 15 times, football 30 times, girls’ tennis 15 times, girls’ golf 10 times. While girls golf did have the best season ever, and only got recognized 10 times compared to football’s 30 times, football made it to CCS finals. 

The pattern was similar in the winter. Boys’ basketball was mentioned 35 times, girls’ basketball 46 times, boys’ wrestling 11 times, girls’ wrestling 13 times, boys’ soccer 31 times, and girls’ soccer 22 times. While girls’ wrestling had the best season in school history, so did girls’ basketball. Boys Basketball had a total of 29 games and girls basketball had 26 games, compared to girls’ wrestling which had 15 total showings, along with boys’ wrestling’s 19 mentions. 

The reality is that the basketball season has more games than all the other sports. Boys’ basketball had 26 games this season and girls’ basketball had 29 games. Having more contests, means more mentions, making people think one sport is being unfairly shown compared to the other sports.

Since the beginning of announcements are predictable, the announcements always start with the weather, lunch menu, and pledge of allegiance, they may tune out the announcements, and when important information is announced, they aren’t paying attention. “They should prioritize the important deadlines and information first, then talk about the menu and sports,” senior Anthony Garcia said. 

A possible solution to engage students more, would be to change up the order of the announcements because it will break the monotony and captivate students. For example, since the pledge is usually said at the beginning, if it was moved to the end, students will be thinking, “When will the announcements say the pledge of allegiance,” which will make them pay attention to the entirety of the announcements. 

Chaidez feels it’s important to maintain a routine. “It’s a tradition (saying the Pledge of Allegiance first). It’s a great way to start….we’re gonna continue doing our same routine,” she said, in response to mixing up the placement of the daily announcements. 

Another suggestion made in the survey was to add a new feature. “I think they should add what National Holiday it is, like National Pizza Day and other ones like that to make things more fun.” junior Alicia Ferrel said. “Because then you could go tell your friend it’s National Pizza Day and go get pizza later with them, and have something to look forward to throughout the day.”

While Chaidez is open to adding new features, the time for the announcements is only 5 minutes, which limits the number of announcements. When it comes to information being announced, Chaidez pointed out that coaches, staff, and clubs need to submit the information in a timely manner, using the Google Form she supplies at the beginning of the year. “Whatever is shared with me or with the morning announcers, the clubs and the staff have access to a document,” she said. “If nobody posts on that document, then we have no way of knowing. It’s a responsibility of the advisor, the coaches, and  anyone who wants daily announcements to fill out the form accordingly. Otherwise, we are not going to search for things to announce, they need to fill out the form with a script. If coaches don’t tell us, ‘We won this game’ we have no way of knowing.”

While the daily announcements aren’t perfect, students value the announcements, and believe they are informative. “I think that senior deadlines on the announcements are covered a good amount, I know when the deadlines are because they say on the announcements,” senior Melissa Chavarin said. “I feel that students don’t pay attention, or their teachers don’t play them. Whenever my teacher plays them, I’m paying attention because there is important information on there.” 

“I feel informed, because they tell us the stuff we need to know,” Nicholas Vasquez-Ochoa said. “My teachers always play the announcements and I pay attention.” 

”I think the daily announcements do their job. They inform us about activities happening in school and remind students of deadlines,” junior David Vera said. “They could be less repetitive, but they always do their job.”