At 8:27 AM every morning, all of the 3,731 students at ETHS in attendance that day hear a beep from the loudspeaker, followed by the energetic encouragement of Noah Reichlin, ETHS senior,  to “move it move it” to their first period class. Since the very beginning of last year Reichlin has been greeting students each day, but for many, it’s a mystery how Reichlin began to appear on the announcements in the first place.

“We were coming out of the pandemic, and I asked myself ‘who’s gonna be doing announcements’ and I said, ‘I could do the announcements.’ So I reached out to my counselor and said  ‘Do you know who I can talk to, to see if I can get this to work?’” Reichlin says, “So I came in [to the hub] after the first day of school, and [Ms. Boyd] basically told me what the role entails, and that you need commitment. And I was like, ‘Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do it.’ And she said, ‘Okay, you got the job.’”

Every morning, Reichlin arrives early at the Hub to prepare himself for the daily announcements. Part of what he says is his own script, which, although it’s sustained minor changes, has remained mostly intact during his time as an announcer. Some of his most iconic phrases, like “this is Noah Reichlin coming at you live from the hub” and of course “it’s time to move it move it to your first-period class” have been with him since day one. 

“They told me on the first day I was there that they were going to have the song ‘move it, move it’ play every day at 8:27 to encourage people to get to their classes. They said, ‘You can completely disregard it or you can work it into your announcements—whatever you want.’ So I chose to say it’s time to move it, move it to class.” 

The rest of Reichlin’s routine, usually consisting of notices from other groups in the school, and important reminders for students, is given to him the day of—sometimes just minutes before he goes live. For many students public speaking like this, in front of thousands of your peers, is frightening, but Reichlin enjoys it, and with over a year of practice under his belt he’s quite comfortable in the hub. In fact, his main concern as he rattles off upcoming school events is maintaining the level of energy and enthusiasm that he’s become known for. 

“I just read through [new material] in my head, and figure out how what parts I’m going to emphasize.” Reichlin says, “Because, from what I’ve seen, the afternoon announcements sort of have a more formal, or informational tone. The mornings should be more energetic, so I have to figure out how I’m going to keep that tone throughout.”

The process of giving the announcements is shockingly simple. Earlier this week, Evanstonian reporters followed Reichlin through his morning routine. After arriving at the hub we simply followed him into the Hub, and then to an office, where he opened his portion of the script on his phone and placed it next to the other announcements, which had been printed out for him. Then, a code (which not even Reichlin is allowed to know) was punched into a phone, we heard a loud beep, and there it was: Noah Reichlin, live! from the Hub. 

But, sadly, all good things come to an end, and as Reichlin begins looking towards graduation, ETHS must begin to consider who the next announcer will be. Reichlin hopes to have a hand in finding the perfect person to be his successor, and perhaps even create a process that can be used to pick new announcers in years to come. 

“What I think the most likely option is, at least right now, is that there might be an audition selection process.” Reichlin says, “I’m gonna try not to have any bias. I know, there are many, many other people who want to take [the job]. I want to give them the opportunity to experience it.”