Rise and shine! The days at North High never quite start until the much anticipated morning announcements. While you might expect students to be listening for upcoming news, many of us can admit that we are also excited to hear Assistant Principal Ronald Levine’s joke of the day.
Whether they are puns, funny punchlines, or a thought provoking implication, Levine always catches the attention of the students and faculty in the building.
Surprisingly, this was not always a tradition at North High. Levine only began running morning announcements a couple years ago, roughly around the start of 2021. He often went over the weather report and did an ‘On This Day’ fun fact, aside from other school relevant news.
As time progressed, however, he discovered a niche side to the calendar: everyday holds a quirky holiday, representing an interesting event. These strange days range from the first time someone baked bread to wisdom tooth day, and, conveniently, they are all logged online.
“I thought it would be funny to announce the weird days and then make little jokes in reference to those days to just lift spirits,” said Levine. “A lot of them sometimes go over the heads of the students, and some of them are directed more towards faculty, others are directed towards departments.”
Levine hopes that these instigate conversations between students and teachers, outside of the curriculum –whether they are explaining the jokes or sharing a laugh together– creating a relaxed and open teaching environment, where everyone feels more comfortable.
Levine’s passion for the morning announcements is an admirable trait. He keeps an organized record of each joke he has shared, dedicating a page to each day. Now having amounted to a large stack, Levine keeps this precious display in his office, adding to it day by day.
Dating back to about a year ago, Levine’s archives uncovered a fan favorite: on this day, in 1880 Ginseng Garfield was elected the 26th U.S. president, and it is the national devil egg’s day. I’m being serious, it’s not a yolk.
Get it? He said yolk instead of joke!
This is just one example of the many types of jokes Levine has compiled over the years.
“I love the ones that have like a double meaning. I can’t really have a favorite one,” said Levine. “Sometimes I like the ones that are really cerebral, that make you think, instead of being a slap stick joke.”
