Are the announcements too long?

By Rohan Arun and Jinu Jing

As the second period begins in Westhill, the infamous morning announcements also start on cue.  These announcements impact students and teachers in various ways. Many times, students don’t actually listen to the announcements because of the sheer length of them. In fact, period two has been extended by eight minutes just to compensate for the prolonged announcements. For teachers, the duration of the announcements can be a deterrent to starting their lesson quickly so that they can progress to more activities. To combat this, a few teachers let students start working as the announcements are playing. To get some viewpoints, the Westword asked some students their own opinions. 

“They’re very informative, but they can be very lengthy. However, it helps save me some time in class to prepare my material. Before the teacher starts speaking, I can get a lot of my stuff ready”, says Sean Dao (‘26).

Like Sean, people in other classes also use the extensive announcement time to get ready for class. In some rooms, such as the Jazz Ensemble room, almost every student starts practicing their instrument as soon as the announcements start. 

“I think it is great that they try and do the announcements in other languages because it gives those that don’t speak English as a first language a chance to know what’s happening in the school and be a part of it. However, the announcements are way too long that nobody ends up listening to them anyways. This completely negates the positive impacts that come from it being in multiple languages. In the Jazz ensemble we can’t come together as a class and play until the announcements are done which takes forever, but people still play over them so we can’t hear them anyways. It’s really a double edged sword,” says Jeremy Smith (‘25).

The prolonged announcements can also be very distracting for some, depriving them of a productive learning session. Even though the announcements inform people of key information and events, many students think that it’s not worth listening to these for at least ten minutes rather than paying attention to class. The Westword asked the principal of Westhill, Mr. Michael Rinaldi, about his opinions regarding the duration of the announcements. 

“Your question [sic] if you’re asking me whether or not I think our announcements are too long, I would say, I don’t think they are too long. I think they’re getting close to maybe being too long.” 

Additionally some teachers believe that the extended length of period two compensates for the long announcements.  believe that it is worth spending time to inform the Westhill population about upcoming changes or events. Also, people believe that the announcement duration is extended so that everyone can understand the announcements, whether they speak English, Spanish or Haitian Creole. 

Mrs. Wendy Bosco, a science teacher says, “You know, it’s tough to stay focused and keep a class quiet for that long for sure, but I think it’s important that we’re hearing them (announcements) in English and Spanish.” 

They also argue that with the extended time given in period two, there should be adequate time for class. Many students and teachers have diverging opinions regarding the duration of these announcements. But although the duration of these morning announcements can be controversial, they are a crucial part of our day. They help us stay alert and, in turn, become better members of our society.