For many of us, the morning announcements are a fundamental part of our daily ritual. Much like brushing our teeth in the morning, it requires little thought and will hardly ever catch us off guard. Most of us never even listen to what is said.
But for those of you who wonder who delivers the announcements, I took the time to catch up with Austin Cradle (A.K.A the man behind the mic) to discuss the announcements, Leesville, and his plans for the future.
(Begin Interview)
Henry Werner (AKA: Me): What made you want to do the morning announcements place?
Austin Cradle: Well, it’s been a tradition that the executive council officers do the announcements, and we just kind of cycle through. But I always thought it would be fun, ya know, to kind of make it fun and jazzy in the morning. That’s kind of why I wanted to do it personally, but yeah, that’s why I do it in general.
Henry: Describe to me the process that goes into delivering the announcements. What steps are taken each day to ensure your message comes through the intercom?
Austin: I’ll get to the office about a minute or two before the bell rings, and they will have a blue folder that has all of the announcements in it. So yeah, they write out the pledge and everything we have to say before the pledge on a sheet in case we forget. So that’s all in the folder, and the office staff has printed them all out, and they just hand us the folder then we walk over to the phone, punch the code in, and then the speaker comes on.
Henry: The mic goes on and your voice is being projected throughout the entire school, what thoughts are going through your mind?
Austin: Sometimes I forget I have to do the announcements, and so I run down there, and by the time I’m down there I’m breathing really hard because I ran the whole way. So a lot of times I’m thinking, man I hope they can’t hear me like, huffin and puffin. And then sometimes I’m like man I said that word… actually Sr. Ross always gets on me because I said his name wrong on the announcements, apparently, so I’m always like, oh man there’s his name, I got to make sure I say it right. So I always have to make sure that’s right. So, just tryn’ make sure I don’t sound stupid or anything, and that’s always kinda going through my mind.
Henry: Are there ever any feelings of nervousness or anxiety?
Austin: At first, the first time I did it, I got really nervous, ummm, but now it’s just kind of natural. It’s more fun now than anxious.
Henry: How do you feel the morning announcements contribute to people’s day here at Leesville?
Austin: I think the announcements themselves are helpful in that, hey, these are the things that are going on, rather than just getting a text from a club officer. Like, you have a whole, like, two minutes where you get to know exactly what is going to be going on through the next couple days, which I think is really good. And I always like doing the B-E-A beautiful day thing. I think it always brightens people’s day. So hopefully that brightens the leesville community
Henry: How do the morning announcements add value to your life?
Austin: Ummm, I think it helps me personally overcome anxiety when speaking to large groups of people. Just ya know, branching out and trying new things, and umm, helping my community.
Henry: Does it offend you that some people totally ignore what is coming through the speaker?
Austin: No, not at all. I just do them to help people, ya know, make it fun in the morning. If they don’t want to listen to it, that’s their prerogative. They can do whatever they want.
Henry: Rumor has it you have big plans for yourself in the future — what do those plans include?
Austin: I’m shooting for…. I’ll be running for president in 2048, so, haha, that’s the goal. If you’ve ever seen the “Cradle 2048” shirts, that’s where they are from. At first it was kind of a joke, and then I realized I kind of wanted to run for president so we just kind of kept it going. So at first it was a joke and then I kind of realized I wanted to do it. So it’s kind of worked out like that.
Henry: Can we expect to see you on our T.V. screens someday?
Austin: Well, I’ll probably be in the navy for a while, and I probably won’t be on the T.V. screens while I’m in the navy, but once I retire, and become a politician, I’ll definitely be doing some debates and stuff like that on T.V.. So coming around 2048 you’ll definately see me up there.
Henry: Thank you man, awesome interview!
Austin: Haha, no problem!
(End Interview)
