By Rohan Andresen ’12
THE ROUNDUP
This year Brophy introduced a new form of campus-wide daily announcements via student e-mail that has been met with some skepticism and questions.
This new form replaces the previous announcements, which were broadcast every day over the intercom during the period right before lunch.
The old system may not have been perfect, but the new method of delivery is a step in the wrong direction and needs to be changed.
The new announcements are in the form of a well-organized, yet inevitably text heavy e-mail put together and sent out by Assistant for Student Activities Ms. Sandra Dennard.
Though full of important information, the e-mail is just too much for students to read.
Students are given five minutes at the start of class before lunch to read them, but many would rather just talk to friends, play a game or finish an assignment.
Before, students did not have a choice but to listen to the information booming out of the loudspeaker.
Assistant Principal for Student Activities Mr. Jeff Glosser said the administration made the change because of the fact that all students now have e-mail accessibility in class and can read the announcements via e-mail.
He also said that last year with the ongoing conversations of students in some classes, there was not an environment where students could hear the announcements over the PA.
Both of these are very legitimate reasons to change the medium for announcements.
Still, many students would like to revert back to the old form of announcements, and according to Student Council member Flavio Bravo ’12, the topic has come up in recent Student Council meetings.
“If there is a better system to get communication out – then we will always be open to that,” Mr. Glosser said when asked about the permanency of these new announcements.
My suggestion is a hybrid of old and new. It would be helpful to have the important and new announcements read to us so that we are able to listen to it and digest the information.
If there are important announcements that have been changed or pertain to a large amount of students, it’s helpful for everyone to hear it over the loudspeaker so no one will miss it.
In addition, it is nice when Xavier girls make announcements over the loudspeaker regarding things like a “blue out,” a volleyball game or a community service event that they want us to be involved with.
Additionally, an e-mail of these announcements would serve as a great reference in the event that not all the announcements could be heard.
Teachers can also help by keeping classrooms and students quiet.
This hybrid would not only deliver information more effectively, but allow students to always double check that important date, time or event.
