After students came back to school from April Break, tanned and re-energized, they noticed a significant change in their school bells.
Students realized that the bells were changed from a low-toned beep to a high-pitched ringing sound, which closely attempts to resemble a real ringing bell, while we use an electronic system. Once students noted the change, many were confused as to why the change occurred, as well as annoyed since many found the old bell preferable to the new one.
“Well, the bells changed, basically, because of a security reason,” said Technology Specialist John Willett.
“The interface that the bells used at the time, on the OS, was outdated for that,” said Willett.
“It only worked on Windows 10 in the school system. Here, we use Windows 11. We had to come up with a workaround where what we did is, we essentially went through the Explorer Edge to get into the system. And unfortunately, it expires every 30 days,” said Willett.
Due to the expiration in their system, the Tech Department could not efficiently use the system, meaning it would freeze up from time to time if the old bell had stayed in place. To upgrade the system to be fully functional and fixed, the Tech Department had to find a new bell within the new system, which entailed their team, them along with the School Admins, to listen to every possible sound that could become the new bell at NHS, which they wanted to have chosen by the end of April Break.
What makes this new system much more efficient and interesting than the old one is that it allows room for creativity and safety to play a part in our school in a bigger way than many may think.
“We have multiple options that we can customize. We can download any MP3 sound, and we can then upload that. So if we find a different bell sound that we like, we can upload it into the system,” said Willett.
Thanks to this new system, the Tech Department can take any sound they would like, convert it into an MP3 file, and put it into their system, which would allow them to play any sound they would like as the bell. This system can be used to play specific alarms, natural disaster warnings, and or for other occasions as well. This system also allowed the Senior Class of 2026 to play specific sounds and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” for the bells on their last day.
Despite the Tech Department enjoying their new system, many students at NHS are displeased with the sound of the new bell, both with how it sounded and when it came into place.
“As a team, we all went over the options,” said Willett.
“Everyone heard the bells, the new ones, and we didn’t want to make the change when school was in session,” said Willett.
The Tech Department and NHs Administration, as a group, listened to all of the potential options for the new bell and chose the current one as the best out of the bunch. To answer why the bell was put in place after April Break, the Tech Department did not want to disrupt regular school activities by changing the bell in the middle of a functioning school week.
“The bells really don’t bother me. I think that the bell, to me, a sound is a sound, and I know that when the bell rings, you move on to your next class,” said Willett.
While the Tech Department is happy with the bells, many students at NHS are annoyed by the bell, whether it be the way it sounds or just the fact that it changed so close to the end of the year.
“I think that they are kind of stupid in my opinion,” said Sophomore Maryana Watfa.
“I honestly liked the old one better because it flows better. But when the new bell came out, it was very kind of cartoon-like. So, it kind of feels like we’re on a TV show of some sort. It was just very unserious,” said Watfa.
Other students, at this point in the year, feel indifferent about the new bells.
“I really didn’t like them when it first started, but now it doesn’t bother me as much,” said Sophomore Catherine Dalzell.
“I didn’t like them at first, but now I don’t really care about it,” said Sophomore Sienna Powers.
Overall, the Tech Department found the change to be necessary due to the expiration of their system, while students still find the change to be an unnecessary one.
“I think they should change them back because there was no need to change them,” said Powers.
“I think it doesn’t really matter what it sounds like, but definitely not that. We didn’t need to change it, because what was the point?” said Watfa.
