OPINIONS| 9
Bring back ‘Good Morning Staples’ Business Manager
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early four years ago, I sat in the back of a silent classroom, craning my neck to see the television along with my fellow classmates. Our eyes fixed on the screen, we laughed and smiled at the upperclassmen relaying the week’s news on the “Good Morning Staples” broadcast. Talk of the broadcast’s content would carry into the lunch waves and through the halls of the building for the hours to come. But that was then and this is now. The attentive viewing of “Good Morning Staples” has been replaced with idle chatter over the morning announcements. The colorful green screen
is replaced with a barely audible microphone. The student-run interviews are replaced with faculty announcements, and the “Good Morning Staples” news show exists only as a faint memory. Staples should bring back the “Good Morning Staples” news show to help reunite the community post pandemic and to engage students in current events around the school. In a majority of my classes, the morning announcements over the loudspeaker are often ignored due to their unengaging presentation. On the rare occasion that the microphone picks up the speaker’s voice, the speaker typically reads off a laundry list of items that need to be covered; however, without being able to associate a face with a voice, many students tune out what is being said altogether. The Staples morning show
The most important aspect of fostering a community of diverse thinkers is giving a variety of voices a platform to speak on.
would mitigate this issue, because it would offer a platform for students and faculty to interact face-to-face about ongoing school issues of importance to the rest of the student body. The most important aspect of fostering a community of diverse thinkers is giving a variety of voices a platform to speak on. In the morning announcements this year, the student body has heard about a plethora of groups’ accomplishments from Principal W Thomas Jr. instead of the students themselves. All of these groups were represented as part of the Staples community with respect; however, if they had represented themselves instead, the announcement wouldn’t have lacked authenticity. “Good Morning Staples” broadcast had a segment where students interviewed various clubs and groups of students and highlighted noteworthy achievements. This was an advantageous form of representation, as the
story being shared came directly from the source. Given the state of our world, it is crucial to keep students educated. There is no time in the morning announcements to talk about things such as the nomination of the new Supreme Court justice, or the petition to keep Joey’s open by Compo beach. Oftentimes, when current events are not mentioned in the morning announcements it can feel as though the administration does not deem them important enough to talk about. While ideally this is not the case, the morning show would offer more air time to talk about these relevant issues, and it would also give students the opportunity to make an appearance and shed light on issues that they believe should be heard and talked about at Staples. Good Morning Staples is an important tradition that has been discarded. This show acts as a medium for exercising our First Amendment rights as students in our community and needs to be brought back. As a graduating senior, I implore the underclassmen to carry on this tradition so that their voices can be heard.
RADIO REGULARS Mike Zito (upper left) and Jim Honeycutt (upper right) advised “Good Morning Staples” for decades, airing the show three times a week at 8:25 a.m. Students such as Jack Caldwell ’19 (lower left) and Cooper Boardman ’17 (lower right) helped to air this show.
Graphic by Rachel Greenberg ’22 Photos contributed by Dan Woog’s 06880 blog
