Are the Morning Songs a Nightmare or a Dream?

Imagine starting 5 days of your week listening to an obnoxiously loud ringing sound. Then, imagine starting your day off listening to your favourite songs, or music from all kinds of genres and cultures: having a good laugh with friends, enjoying music from your favorite artists. Which would you prefer?

For many years,  AISG has been taking a different approach to traditional school bells, instead opting for playing songs of our choice in the morning. This idea started a few years back, when former MS counselor (and current ES counselor) Ms. Ostermiller began DJ-ing bell songs in the morning. Later, when she left Science Park, HS social studies teacher Mr. Duncan took over for her, and also decided that it would be a fun idea to replace the traditional after school bell on Friday with music. This was a way for students to have a positive start to the weekend. When Mr. Duncan moved to Argentina, Ms. Barga had the honor of playing the songs, although Mr. Owen chooses every Wednesday song. All of the teacher DJs have welcomed student requests, although they try to screen out songs that are sent by students who wish to annoy rather than entertain the student body (i.e. meme songs like “Raining Tacos”). They have also worked to maintain a diverse variety of songs, playing music from different genres, in different languages, and by male and female artists from a variety of ethnicities.

Many would agree that mornings are often the worst part of the school day, so the fact that AISG uses morning music instead of bells allows students to choose songs they like to make school more enjoyable in the mornings. Mr. Tragert commented that “as adults, we should do everything [we can] to make school as welcoming and as fun of a place as possible.” Although morning songs might seem like “a minor thing, it could be that you request a song and it is your birthday and when that song plays you guys get a little laugh or smile and so we’ve done our job. So the root of why we do [it] is to try to make it more of an enjoyable place.”

Many students had different opinions on the selection of songs and whether the morning songs are effective in improving their moods. Junior Bonny C. believes that “the morning songs doesn’t have a big effect on bringing students mood up because people don’t really pay attention when the songs are playing.” Sophomore Chloe I. agrees that people don’t pay attention to the songs as many people “are usually just on their phones, talking to friends, doing work, or sleeping.”

On the other hand, Junior Candy L. believes that playing songs instead of school bells is a good way to start the day. She added, “everyone is tired in the morning, so playing different types of songs can wake people up and bring energy to people.” Freshman Bobo L. says that students being able to give suggestions on what types of songs should be played in the morning is a good idea as “the morning music [is] songs that many people enjoy listening to because they are up to date.” Sophomore Joey Z. also agrees with Bobo L, because “whenever K-Pop songs are played, my friends and I always get very excited, and will be fangirling over the artist.”

Personally, I believe that replacing bells with music in the morning has a big effect on students’ moods. Normally, I sleep in homeroom, and having a normal bell would disrupt my nap, making me annoyed and frustrated. But, having the music in the mornings makes me feel more calm and relaxed, allowing me to start the school day off on a good note.

Have a request you think the school should hear? Send a high-quality mp3 file to jbarga@aisgz.org, and Ms. Barga will play it for you. Songs are programmed at the end of each month for the following month, so plan ahead if you want to have a song played for your friend’s birthday or another special occasion.