Morning announcements are a standard part of the daily schedule in most high schools. Most of these announcements tend to follow a fixed structure. Though there’s no problem with that, there’s also nothing wrong with spicing things up a little.
You can always make things even more interesting by adding your own, unique ideas to these announcements. Maybe you could add some infotainment or something vibrant so that the school day begins with a good level of enthusiasm.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the principal, vice-principal, administrator or the student council in charge, you can always do something a little different to make sure that your students are paying attention to the morning announcements.
Get loose with your creativity and add as many interesting elements as possible to make sure the message gets through.
In fact, we’ve listed out a few ideas you can try. However, before that, let’s take a brief look at the standard morning announcement format used today.
The usual morning announcement in High Schools
A typical morning announcement starts with the pledge of allegiance. The video is often played in a common homeroom or individual classroom. Generally, this part of the process is handled by the principal.
However, some high schools hand the responsibility over to a student council representative. This is seen as a strategy to get more students engaged, considering the possibility that they are likely to be more receptive when their own peers are involved.
A standard morning announcement format goes like this:
- Salutation
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Thought for the day
- Announcements and messages
Now, you can make things more interesting by trying out the ideas given below. In fact, all you need to do is add them and tweak the existing format. There really is no need to even do away with the current format. It’s all about adding a little flavor.
Motivational quotes
In some schools, the standard format is altered to include topics such as the lunch menu and weather reports. Considering the fact that this is a video production, you can enhance the experience with graphics and images.
Another common topic discussed is the “thought for the day”. However, instead of having the “thought for the day”, a motivational quote might be presented and explained. These quotes can be very encouraging and teach certain values. For example, you could borrow the Nike slogan “Just Do It” and present it as a motivational quote.
The quote can be used to provide valuable lessons on taking action, not giving up, and persevering. Plus, using a quote from a youthful brand like Nike can help students relate to it.
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Math term of the day
Some schools have even used “Math term of the day” as a unique component of their morning announcements. This is a smart move considering math is a tough subject for most students and keeping them informed about such terms can be educational and beneficial in the long run. With video, you can actually interpret these terms using practical examples. Maybe one of the math geniuses can be tasked with presenting this.
Themes
Some schools create a theme for their morning announcements. Naturally, the theme is a positive one that aims to help students direct all their energy towards a beneficial goal. For example, you could use the theme of solving a puzzle. You could probably throw in a question and have students find out the solution by the end of the day and submit them. You could even give out a small prize and announce the winner in the next day’s morning announcements. Add more fun by placing clues around the school.
Special guest
You could invite a special guest who holds a lot of relevance to your students or serves as a role model to them. It could be someone from the community or even someone from your own school. For instance, your school nurse could hand out a few tips on hygiene and health or you could have a police officer teach students about the law, their rights, and their responsibilities.
You could even try replicating the typical talk show format.
Riddles
You can also incorporate riddles into your morning announcements. This creates an atmosphere of participation by getting students, and even teachers involved in finding the solution or answer. Similar to the puzzle of the day idea, you can distribute prizes to the students who submit the answer first.
Appreciation
Here, you dedicate a few minutes to show appreciation to a student or staff for their achievements or contributions. For instance, if one of the students has written a poem that won an award outside of the school, let the school know. This encourages students to keep doing what they do and motivates others who aren’t involved in constructive activities.
You can do the same for teachers and other staff members who might have achieved something similar.
Music
Another way to keep your morning announcements interesting is by adding music. This is what radio jockeys do with their respective radio shows. For example, if you listen to the radio, you will notice that jockeys use sound effects and tunes right before, during or after announcements. This is to alert listeners or add a certain effect to the message. For instance, if there’s something funny, there might be a laughter track added to enhance the listening experience.
This can be done with video broadcasting as well.
You can even have a dedicated song for each day. Have your students vote for the latest hits and play the one that gets the most votes. However, do make sure the songs have clean content, especially with regard to visuals.
Safety and health tips
This is similar to the idea of having your school nurse deliver tips. However, you don’t always have to invite the nurse. Just collect the information and have students present them in an informative and engaging way. You could probably cover everyday aspects of health and safety like washing hands or brushing teeth.
You can even have a presentation on preventing common diseases, especially those related to lifestyle. Or, if it’s the flu season, present tips on how to avoid or treat it.
Hand it all over to the kids
At the Scenic Heights Elementary School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, 5th graders are tasked with organizing their own morning announcements. According to school authorities, this is a great way to get young children involved and to get them to overcome stage fear.
The kids do everything from handling the camera to even compiling their own announcements and news reports.
Maybe this could work for your school too.
So, there you have it – ideas for your morning announcement broadcast. So, try them out as soon as possible. They’re sure to liven up the school day.
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