This year, FHN decided to do away with the morning announcements. Groups and Clubs are now finding other ways to connect with current and potential members, and they are experiencing differing degrees of success. For Knights of Excellence (KOE), the lack of announcements has caused a drop in club membership.

“Not having announcements makes it very difficult  for us to hold kids accountable for deadlines and late fees, and attendance has gone down at events,” KOE sponsor Lindsey Scheller said.

However, Student Council (StuCo) isn’t feeling the same effects.

“[Not having announcements] doesn’t really affect us,” StuCo Vice President Nicole Yuede said. “People who want to be here put forth the effort to be here.”

Now that the morning announcements are gone, students have several other options to connect with groups and club. One new option is receiving text messaging via Twitter. The announcements are also posted on FHNtoday.com and Facebook.

“I like Facebook better than the morning announcements because you have the option of replying back with questions and concerns,” senior Carolyn Malkmus said.

In addition to receiving announcements though social media and text messaging, there are also four new flat screen TVs located inside North that will scroll through the daily announcements. Two of these TVs are in the Commons, one is in the main lobby and one is in the lobby downstairs next to the gym.

However, even with these new communication methods, the lack of morning announcements may not be a permanent change. Principal Darlene Jones and the staff are still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t for the clubs and activities at FHN.

“We are trying to get to the level that the students communicate on,” Jones said. “That’s our goal.”