At today’s assembly, I spoke to the students about how playing a pop song to start the day on Friday helps build house spirit, community and hopefully, is a nice way to end a school week.
This year marks the 10th edition of our Friday morning song. This tradition began in the fall of 2008 with David Bowie’s “Golden Years.” In those early years, the song led to a full-on dance party, with students showing their moves out in the hallways, but more recently, students are content to listen in their classrooms. One thing that has remained constant is the house competition linked to the Friday song. House members can earn points by correctly guessing the name of the song and the artist. In previous years there has been a strong correlation between participation in the Friday song and winning the House Cup.
I borrowed the concept of a Friday morning song from Bob Herzog, the weather and traffic reporter at television station WKRC in Cincinnati. Herzog provides his viewers with a novel Friday dance routine, likely as a means of lightening the bad news about winter storms and traffic jams. Playing a pop song here at Greenwood on a Friday morning offers students a change of pace from the usual morning routine. On occasion, the song also reinforces a key school event or theme. Hopefully, the song helps everyone start the day on a good note!
The Friday song is one example of how music plays an important part in our school culture. Over the past 10 years, our formal music program, under the direction of Mr. Wright and Mr. Morrison, has entertained us with pit bands for the Junior Play, jazz bands, choirs and guitar ensembles. There has also been some memorable informal music from campfires to school coffee houses. Making music together is one important way to build community and helps individual students develop confidence.