“The time has now approached 2:15…”

That is where the similarities end between the messages that each Assistant Principal (AP) at AHS gives at the end of the school day reminding students to be somewhere; whether it be a classroom, sport or waiting for a ride home.

Each AP, (Jamie Carayiannis, Pam Gravitte, Aaron Schneider, Donna Higgins and Vincent Randazzo) gives a daily reminder, each assigned to a certain day depending on the month. They all use different tactics: some are serious, some humorous and some are right in between. The question among many seems to be, which is the best?

So, what do the administrators have to say about their respective announcements? Right at the beginning, it seemed that a favorite was Carayiannis. Schneider gave his endorsement to Carayiannis via e-mail. “He is extremely animated in his weekly approach to the afternoon announcement,” wrote Schneider.

In fact, Carayiannis can often be heard once a week giving a humorous twist to his announcements.

“I try to use humor or a non-formal format when making my announcements after school and during lunches. I feel this draws the listener’s attention to the message that I am trying to convey,” Carayiannis said.

However, not only are his messages entertaining, they are informative.

“To effectively communicate with anyone, I feel it’s the speaker’s responsibility to reach every listener and keep their attention so [that] they  ‘hear’ the message. Insuring that the listener hears the message and understands the expectations is the goal,” Carayiannis said.

To add the “icing on the cake,” not only does Carayiannis effectively communicate an informative message, but he is also able to vary the messages. This is an important component of the criteria on judging the afternoon announcements.

“I try and vary the method I use when communicating because I feel it keeps the listener’s attention,” said Carayiannis. “Capturing the listener’s attention, keeping the message short and sweet, and communicating clear expectations increases the chances the audience will listen. If not, everything the speaker says sounds like Charlie Brown’s mother and the listeners don’t hear a thing.”

It is quite clear that not only is Carayiannis’ method effective, but that he enjoys doing the announcements himself.

“Besides making my announcements and the SR&R presentation a bit off-beat, I enjoy communicating in this way because it makes it fun for me,” he said.

Some other administrators, like Gravitte, seem to reflect Carayiannis’ statement.

“I try to be friendly, but get the point across. If I can make someone smile while doing [it], that’s even better,” Gravitte said. She also likes to add personal touches.“If I know of a particular event, I will try to include that.”

Randazzo, too, said he tries “to keep it light.”

It seems that across the board, the Administration team at AHS enjoys getting the message across through a humorous angle.

Nobody wants to hear the same old announcement everyday, and clearly the administration doesn’t want to repeat the same message, or talk in a tone that is monotone and resembles the vocabulary, “blah, blah, blah.”

So, kudos to the whole Administration team for the variation in the afternoon announcements! Finally, congratulations to Carayiannis, for the most entertaining and informative announcements heard in the halls of AHS thus far.

Now, next time you are listening to the afternoon announcements, maybe you’d like to keep a mental tally of which you thought were the best.