Just after dashing from her Z-block class, senior Claire Gallion enters the main office. Sitting down before the Public Address (PA), she takes a deep breath and launches into her weekly morning announcements.

These announcements, otherwise known as Info Time, have become crucial to academic life this school year.

Gallion said Info Time was originally scheduled during the first five minutes of Advisory.

“The schedule when I was a freshman designated time for Info Time, and nobody knew what that was because nothing ever actually happened,” Gallion said.

Gallion felt there was a need for announcements due to the enormous student population. She aimed to create a channel for students’ voices to be heard.

School Within a School (SWS) history teacher and student government liaison Jen Martin said the reason for Info Time’s dismissal was the timing and relevance of the announcements.

“Over time, we started to rely on online announcements and only really important announcements would get read in Advisory,” Martin said.

This meant that when Gallion was a freshman, whole-school announcements happened rarely. Gallion said she wanted to change this, but the pandemic delayed her plans.

“I wanted to make this happen before I left [the high school]. It’s something I’ve cared about for years,” Gallion said.

Gallion said she felt there was also a need to unite the student body and raise excitement around sports games, events and clubs.

Associate Dean Lisa Redding said Gallion’s efforts to unite the student body are appreciated.

“I think it’s powerful for all students and staff to hear the same messages at the same time. People appreciate it and they get the info that they need,” Redding said.

Redding and Martin helped Gallion start up Info Time. Both educators said every student’s voice deserved to be heard.

“I love hearing Claire. She’s so positive and upbeat. I just think it’s a great way to start the day,” Redding said.

Gallion said that she hopes her announcements have had real significance for students.

“Aside from the actual words, the impact of hearing a fellow student speaking over the loudspeaker sends a louder message than whatever I’m actually saying,” Gallion said.

According to Martin, Gallion’s take on weekly announcements is highly appreciated among the school community.

“It’s not about learning necessarily what’s coming up in the week,” Martin said, “but it’s about uniting the student body around the things they need to know.”