As the clock turns to 8:00, students shuffle into their classrooms and settle in their seats. Teachers finish setting up lesson plans and stall, patiently waiting for the voice from the intercom to come on and greet Skyline and begin the Pledge of Allegiance. As the minutes pass, murmurs filled with confusion are spoken through the classroom. However, the intercom never comes on because announcements have been cancelled.

This year, the humanities department of Skyline decided to cancel morning announcements, creating challenges for students and their abilities to obtain information.

Morning announcements are an aspect of school many students have experienced for their entire academic lives; however, this school year, morning announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance have been erased from Skyline’s agenda. 

The original reasoning behind the cancellation of the announcements was to prevent time being taken away from the classes from which the announcements occur in. This decision was made for the betterment of not only Skyline students, but teachers as well. Despite these positive intentions many students are finding that the repercussions are creating a more negative result than positive.

“Students are missing out on information that we should be knowing.” Senior Sarah Neumann said.

A disconnect between Skyline and its students is forming with students seemingly unaware of events, deadlines, or even tickets for games or dances.

“I was looking forward to getting Senior merch but I didn’t know senior merch was due until I got a text from a friend in leadership.” Neumann said. “We didn’t get notified in the morning announcements so I almost missed out on being able to do something that helps our school.”

Class council has been in charge of morning announcements in the past, are doing the best to find a solution to this issue that is beginning to arise.

Morning announcements have become afternoon announcements and are being done during Flex Time. However, former morning announcement spokesperson and class council President Rhea Kulkarni feels as though this is still not enough. 

“Having [announcements] in the morning I think is more beneficial,” Kulkarni said. “I feel more people are paying attention then in Flex Time and it also is a welcoming way to start the day.” 

Although announcements are still being held Kulkarni states another problem revolving the infrequency of the announcements happening during Flex Time. 

“Flex Time only happens twice a week which means the Skyline community is going several days without any reminders or ability to get information easily.” Kulkarni said.

There are other resources students can use to get updates on events and other information such as Remind, Skyline’s official Instagram account,  messages on Canvas, as well as in SPTV. Many students are unaware or do not know how to utilize these resources.

“I try to promote Remind and our Instagram but I can’t force someone to use either thing. So, these resources are extremely helpful but only for the ones who go out seeking the information.” Kulkarni said. “Also with SPTV some teachers decide not to watch it because it is time consuming.”

In looking for a more permanent solution to students being in the dark about updates that can further help bond and inform Skyline, Neumann feels as though the answer is clear.

“We need to bring back morning announcements.”