At Village School, the fifth graders do the announcements, affirmations, and Pledge of Allegiance each day. Each fifth-grade class takes the responsibility for announcements for a week and then it is rotated to one of the other fifth grade classrooms. The students plan out what they want to say the day before announcements, and everyone has a copy of the paper so they stay organized and don’t forget what to say.

We start by saying “Good morning!” and introducing ourselves. Then there are many things we can choose to say. Sometimes we tell about high school sports from the day before, about the national day, the weather, what’s going on in classrooms around the school, and lots of other things. Every day we say “Happy Birthday” to students.

The affirmations include: “I am ready for a great day,” “I believe in myself,” “I can accomplish my goals and dreams.” The fifth graders say each affirmation and then the school repeats it. The affirmations get people going and motivated for the day.

After the affirmations we do the Pledge of Allegiance. We also say, “Have a great day!”

Village School started having fifth graders do the announcements last year to give students a voice and another special job in the school. When we were fourth graders, we liked having the 5th graders come into our room and ask for good news to share from our classroom. It is somewhat nerve-wracking to speak over the intercom for hundreds of people, but it is exciting, too.