Every morning shortly after the bell rings, their voices call out to 2,400 people. At some point in time, every student at EHS has heard the people who do morning announcements.

But who really are they?

One of the first members, senior Lauren Bruss, joined the crew when it was created last year. English teacher Cara Lane, the crew’s adviser, played a pivotal part in Bruss’ decision to join.

“Last year I was in Ms. Lane’s class,” Bruss said. “I was inspired to join her group because of how passionate she was about positive communication in our school environment.”

Since joining, Bruss has found joy in having her voice broadcasted through the halls of EHS.

“I hope by doing the announcements that I can bring enthusiasm to the information we’re getting across, since lots of the stuff we’re saying is pretty exciting,” Bruss said.

The crew operates by having two people every morning split the announcements. One person who Bruss has worked alongside numerous times is junior Case Warner. 

Warner is a newer recruit compared to Bruss, but that has not hindered his ability to be a successful orator for the crew.

“I was apprehensive and also interested [in joining] at first,” Warner said. “But I’m glad that I’ve continued to do the morning announcements because it’s a unique experience that I am going to benefit from in the future.”

Warner has learned much in his time with the crew and hopes to apply that education to different areas in his life.

“I like that I’m getting more public speaking practice, which helps for class presentations and other things,” Warner said. “I’m glad that I’m getting to be more involved with the entire school [all] at once.”

Having an outlet for public speaking is one of the things that drew Ms. Lane to be the club’s adviser back in 2021.

Prior to Ms. Lane, the announcements weren’t run by a collective group of people, so oftentimes nobody was available to read the announcements in the morning. But Ms. Lane formed the crew as a way to solve the problem.

“As a public speaking teacher and as someone who takes the announcements really seriously… I realized how important the announcements were to disseminate information among not just our 2,400 students but also our staff,” Ms. Lane said.

With her role as a public speaking teacher, Ms. Lane believed she could positively impact the morning announcements and, by doing so, the whole school.

“Those voices are who set the tone and the professionalism for the day,” Ms. Lane said. “They’re sort of a guiding force.”

Ms. Lane hopes for not only an improvement of the school but also improvement for those doing the announcements.

“It certainly is a high-pressure situation. You are in front of a live audience and cannot go back. They have to learn how to navigate that,” Ms. Lane said. “ They’re a part of that puzzle of setting the tone for the school. So their takeaways are being held accountable for those kinds of skills and also for making that contribution to our school.”

For some, this pressure may be too much. But for the morning announcements crew, it’s all just part of the job.

“Some people get scared because Ms. Lane likes to say that this is the largest public speaking role offered at EHS,” Bruss said. “But for me that’s reason to be excited.”