Schools

New Facebook Fan Page Gives Students a Chance to Pick Hallway Music

Most students surveyed by Drops of Ink said they did not like Libertyville High School's hallway music.

Change is coming to the hallways of as Assistant Principal Eric Maroscher revamps the way passing period music is selected.

After seeing Kevin O’Neill’s Advanced Placement European History fan page on Facebook, Maroscher was inspired to create his own fan page to enhance the selection process for the music that is played in the hallway to give students a one-minute warning before the tardy bell.

The music will be selected on a three-week rotation. During the first week, teachers and staff will be able to pitch ideas for what should be played in the hallways. During the second week, it will be the students’ pick. Parents can even become fans of the page and make suggestions. During the third week, Maroscher will pick what gets played, whether it be a suggestion that was pitched earlier by students or staff, or just something that he wants played.

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“Sometimes I want Mozart, sometimes I want Metallica, sometimes I want Joan Jett,” Maroscher said. He tries to pick something students are not used to, or wouldn’t normally listen to, such as Miles Davis or John Coltrane.

He also tries to play experimental music, such as the Lama chants for finals week (which he admitted to finding incredibly annoying after a while).

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Students' Response to the Musical Diversity

Junior Matt Kilbane agrees that there should be more diverse music playing in the halls. He is a fan of classical music, especially Tchaikovsky.

Senior Maree Sanderson, on the other hand, would rather hear more current music playing.

“Some of it is really weird; they need to play more stuff that’s on the radio,” she said.

However, she also likes when the music reflects what’s going on in the school: for example, the songs from the musical during the week of the musical or scary songs during Halloween.

Maroscher likes to take requests from students because they suggest current, popular music.

“Although I like picking the music, I also like when students pick the music, ‘cause they’re very creative,” said Maroscher.

Keeping Music School Appropriate

However, his main concern with students picking the music is keeping it school appropriate. Everything has to pass Maroscher’s litmus test to make sure it’s appropriate to play in the halls.

Security guard Don Johnson hears the music every day, every period. While he thinks that some of the music that is played is obscure, he also thinks it’s good to play different music that kids aren’t used to hearing.

“I’m a big jazz fan,” he said, “like modern fusion.” He also likes neo-soul, old R&B and funk (which he listened to a lot growing up).

Most Students Surveyed Did Not Like the Music

Students have many different suggestions for what should be played in the halls. 385 students were given a survey by Drops of Ink that asked whether or not they liked the hallway music and what they would like to hear. Seventy-three percent of students said that they did not like what was played during the passing period, 23 percent said that they liked the music, and four percent were indifferent or do not usually hear the music.

Out of the 385 students surveyed, 300 made suggestions for what should be played in the hallways. They responded that they would like to hear everything from country to dubstep to nature sounds.

The variety of genres students want to listen to suggests that not everyone wants to hear what is played day-to-day on the radio. People have different music preferences that others wouldn’t normally listen to; Maroscher sees this when he gets suggestions from students for the hallway music. He wants students to have more opportunities to discuss these unique ideas and expose each other to more diverse music.

Drumming Up School Spirit

On Fridays during football season, the school fight song, “Loyal and True,” is played during the passing period. Maroscher thinks this is a great way to get the spirit up, and a better quality recording has really helped with this.

“I asked [Daeschler] to make me a new recording, so I think it’s gonna be awesome because the band is so choice this year,” he said. He also asked for extra drum cuts to highlight the drummers and make Fridays even more spirited. With a better recording, it is easier to really “pump up the volume in the halls.”

Maroscher believes that music, like math, is universal: there is no right or wrong.

“It doesn’t matter what language you speak, it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, if you’re a guy or a girl, you’re gonna like a song with a groove in it or you’re not,” he said.

This article was written by Alison Zupkus, staff writer with Drops of Ink, a publication written, edited and produced by students at Libertyville High School.


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