Starting in the fall of the 2017-2018 school year, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School introduced inspirational morning affirmations in the daily morning announcement in order to instill a positive attitude it students to start the day. Guidance staff member Mary Anne Dubin introduced the idea as a way to help students get through the day.

“I thought that it would enhance the school climate for the students to hear an affirmation first thing in the morning,” Dubin said.

She was inspired to bring this to MSD by inspirational speaker and former school teacher Terra Brown. Dubin attended one of her conferences where she spoke about different methods of uplifting student and teacher morale. She discussed multiple methods, such as having teachers rap to students before school and hanging posters with inspiring quotes around the school.

Dubin was influenced and amazed by Brown’s ideas, inspiring her to start the implementation of the inspirational morning affirmations at MSD. They are kept short enough to get the students’ attention but long enough to have a deep meaning.

Some that have been used in the past are “I listen to my feelings,” “Today is the tomorrow I created yesterday,” “I love myself just the way I am” and “I see endless possibilities.” The sayings start out the day with a message that aims to carry the rest of the day in a positive direction.

“There’s a lot of negative in this world, and there are a lot of stress-producing things that we go through in the course of our lifetime,” Dubin said. “In my opinion, if we can start out the day each day with something positive, then it tends to influence the rest of the day in a positive way.”

Dubin goes through a simple research process to find the quotes that Assistant Principal Winfred Porter reads on the announcements every morning. She searches on Google and chooses some quotes that she feels will speak to students the best and help positively influence their day, week, year and life. According to Dubin, it is not a strenuous process, but it can really make a difference.

“Hearing a nice quote every morning is inspiring and helps me start the day off right,” sophomore Amy Luo said. “They aren’t that long but they still have an affect on people and help.”

Inspirational morning affirmations are meant to improve students’ dispositions to help them get through the roller coaster that is high school. They will be a part of the morning announcements at MSD for years to come.