Haley team members James and Mandy reading the morning announcements.

The MFS Team serving at the Haley strives to powerfully engage our students each morning, and one part of that effort comes with the ringing of chimes. My teammate Mandy and I are responsible for writing and reading the morning announcements, which are the official start to the Haley school day.  At 8:29am, we huddle around the intercom and start off with a rousing “Good morning Haley Pilot Elementary School!”

As part of our announcements, we include the Pledge of Allegiance and the school’s Pledge for Peace. But we also get to show our creative side with fun trivia (did you know an average human heart will beat approximately 2.5 billion times over its lifetime?) or a relevant piece of history (describing Columbus’ landing on Columbus Day) or sometimes an interesting fact about a celebrity (John Krasinski hails from Newton, Mass., not far from our school).  We also have a word of the day and weather forecast, with sound effects distributed liberally throughout.  Our goal is to be informative, succinct and entertaining.

Perhaps it’s the opportunity to indulge my secret dream to be a radio host, or perhaps I just love the creative break in the school day – either way, reading the morning announcements is one of my favorite parts of our service and it’s one way that we’re making the school day more engaging. Signing off from the Haley, have a wonderful day and I’ll see you around!

Check out my ‘Day in the Life’ section on the CityYear.org website here!