With the new digitized school year, the Fort Lauderdale High School morning announcements transitioned from auditory reports to videos posted on Canvas every week for the student body to enjoy.

The morning announcements were proposed by Mrs. Carmichael and the Leadership class as a way to provide students with information on the current happenings of the school.

As the student body is split between students taking classes at home and at school, many have trouble staying informed on the current announcements.

“I think the morning announcements really help me and other students stay updated on what happens at school,” Madelinne Hernandez (12) said. “It even talks about the weather and world news, which I think is also good. My favorite part is always the cooking segment. It is so funny watching them.”

The news team members are happy to provide their support in these times of uncertainty, especially since it provides a fun activity for them to participate in as well.

“Last year whenever I heard the announcements, I never imagined I would be the one saying them. The part of the morning announcements that I enjoy is feeling like I am contributing to the school in some way, “ sophomore co-anchor Kayla Bello shared. “ I never expected to spend my sophomore year on a computer but being able to still have a tie to the school is making it way more enjoyable.”

With students’ interests in mind, the leadership students wanted to create a program that models the local news to make it engaging and exciting for students to watch every week.

“When thinking about how to organize the show,  we were considering what the students needed and wanted to see. That is how we came up with segments,” Bello elaborated. “From there, they evolved and are now totally different than what we had first imagined.”

Currently, the announcements have four segments including world news, school news, the weather, and a cooking segment, not to mention the commentary of the anchors as the show progresses. The world news segment is one that deviates from the normal local news stations, but it manages to entertain and inform the students of global events. 

“So, my group speaks about world news and researches different articles that interest us about what’s happening in the world. Sometimes we have special segments where we only talk about one thing like we did with the Rwanda Genocide,” Charlotte Opris (12) said. “ I like the fact that I”m spreading awareness about the topics that are not talked about much in the U.S. Media, which only focuses on politics.”

With the show comes many comments from teachers and students about its performance. Many have been positive and complimentary of the show’s run and the students who have participated.

“I have received compliments from a couple of my teachers who find the world news helpful and interesting.” Opris said.

Other comments have been equally congratulatory, if not a little humorous.

“I’ve gotten mixed reactions. For the past few segments, I’ve been rapping about the weather since I got the idea when my friend sent me a Tik Tok video of a weatherman rapping along to the second verse of  “Popstar” by Drake,” senior Rocco Diaz of the weather segment explained.  “So my first segment was me remixing the first verse of that song, the second was me remixing “What’s Poppin” by Jack Harlow. I feel like people really liked the first two, but the following three haven’t been as good. I’ve heard everything from ‘you need to make a whole album’ to ‘it’s cheesy but good’ to ‘you’re desecrating good beats.’ It’s all okay with me because I’m used to criticism.”

Aside from the celebratory comments towards the morning announcements, they have certainly helped to bring light to these unprecedented times, including the camaraderie among the news team who have begun to call themselves the Fly Crew.

“As much as many of us have been pulled apart from one another during the pandemic, the announcements have become our little way of showcasing the things that haven’t stopped. It’s become a little way of highlighting kids accomplishments, making some of us laugh, and others reminisce,” senior Paul Aversa said. “Some might not like them, but for those that need something to remind them of the old days, at least we know it brings joy to one person’s day.”

The morning announcements have certainly helped students to stay motivated. Currently, the FLHS Fly Crew has been one of the few good things to come of the pandemic. Hopefully, the announcements can continue to run for the foreseeable future to provide a daily update on news and smiles to students’ faces.