August 31, 2022
Student-Led Morning Announcements Start the Day at Prince
By: Leila Todd (PACS junior)
Each morning at approximately 8:10 am, two Prince high school student voices are heard over intercoms throughout the Prince Avenue Christian School campus for morning announcements. These students make up the morning announcements team, which includes a total of twenty-eight high school students.
Two members of the team cheerfully share various announcements with the school to start a normal day at Prince of learning and discipleship. Certain announcements change by day, but the ones that remain consistent are the date, the scheduled day (A, B, C, or D), the lunch menu options, a Bible verse, and a student-led prayer.
The prayer is always a personal word from the high school student on the announcements that morning, and it’s a few moments each day where Prince Avenue can share fellowship in talking to the Lord. Dr. Nick Wilbur, director of campus life, agrees that the announcements bring fellowship to the school. “By bringing in different backgrounds from fine arts to athletics, it creates a sense of community and fellowship.” According to Mr. Greg Rentz, a high school Bible teacher, the morning prayer gives him encouragement. “It encourages me that we start the day by seeking God together.”
The weekly announcements schedule ascends by grade level, so two students from each high school class are represented each week. Freshmen are broadcast every Monday, sophomores on Tuesday, juniors on Wednesday, and seniors end the student-led announcements every Thursday. Mr. Danny Delgado, the media center specialist, concludes every week with his own charismatic announcements on Friday. The morning announcements only recently became student-led, though, and senior Gracie Cochran is the one to applaud for the shift in direction.
In the 2021-2022 school year, Gracie changed the trajectory of the announcements from a faculty activity to a student activity. Gracie explains what inspired her to modify the morning announcements. “I believe the inclusion of students in announcements brings a fresh voice to the PA system every morning and gets the student body to listen to the announcements instead of tuning them out.”
Gracie exemplifies Christ-like character in her leadership skills. She takes on the responsibility of emailing the monthly announcements schedule to the team as well as encouraging them daily. Additionally, she arrives to school early Monday-Thursday to ensure the announcements are handled properly and to offer guidance to the announcements team. In the future, Gracie hopes to announce victories of sports teams each morning in the hopes that it will further unify the student body.
The announcements team is full of students who exhibit Christ-like character in all that they do. Prince Avenue is fortunate to have a group of students who dedicate a few minutes of their time in the morning to inform and speak life into the school.
Pictured: Gracie Cochran and Georgia Powell lead morning announcements.
Feature Picture ID left to right:
Top Row-Leila Todd, Mimi Culpepper, Nathalie Schroeder, Kasey Eubanks, Linden Waye
Middle Row- Meredith Hale, Jenifer Dunn, Kaylor Jones, Kennedy Brown, Sarah Cochran, Marleigh Mixon, Claire Gann, Lily Smith, Gracie Cochran
Bottom Row-David Simpkins, Jay Lavender, Dylan Capps, Cid Charles, Daniel Schroeder, Wade David