by Rachel H. Freeman, sophomore, Council Rock High School North
Some people in Newtown start their days with a hot cup of coffee or an early morning jog. But at Council Rock High School North, students start their days with music.
Most teens aren’t thrilled even to be awake at 8:00am, let alone making their way to second period. But the Independent TV Broadcasting elective strives to make mornings more bearable through music.
Each week, the class selects a new student “director” who is in charge of choosing a theme for the morning announcements. Along with a theme, he or she must choose music to be played during the announcements and in the hallway.
Changing the directors helps to diversify the announcement themes, according to Megan Korb, a student in Independent TV Broadcasting this year.
When it was her week to direct, Megan chose “All Time Low” day, a theme dedicated to her favorite band, explaining, “I was really happy that I got to add my own personality to the announcements and share my musical taste with the rest of the school.
The elective allows students like Megan to have a week of control. This also means a week of expression and sharing music.
The director benefits from sharing his or her taste with others and expressing him or herself. The students are exposed to new music and the teachers get a hint of what their students enjoy, according to Megan.
“I see people singing and dancing in the hall, enjoying the music,” said Megan. “I think that most people enjoy the announcements.”
About two-thirds of the students at North agree with Megan, according to an Indianite staff survey of 100 CRHS-N students.
“[The music] gets everyone going in the morning, and even if I don’t personally like the song, it’s a nice way to start the day,” said Mike Piora, a musician in the school marching band.
Other students agreed with Mike, saying that they didn’t always like the song choices, but they loved the music in general.
However, the other third of students do not particularly enjoy the music in the mornings.
“I wish weirder genres were played,” said Libby Tofig, an active member of the theater club at North. “I wish they played show tunes or alternative music to switch it up.”
Many students who said they dislike the music claim that the reason is the sound quality. Fixing problems like the sound quality and musical genres could help more students enjoy their mornings.
The majority of students seem to understand that with better mornings come better moods, and with better moods come more willing attitudes to learn and succeed in the classroom.
Independent TV Broadcasting has the power to impact the entire school positively, the majority of students commented during the survey.
Overwhelmingly though, most of the students agreed that the elective already does a great job helping directors express themselves and allowing the students to enjoy the start to their days, and with a little bit of work, Independent TV Broadcasting can wake up Council Rock North, the right way.
