A Cinderella Story (2004) - 3 questions

Question: When Sam and Carter and Rhonda are at the costume place looking for costumes for Sam, what is the costume that Carter points to and says, "There is this one"?

Answer: He is pointing to a red dress with some sort of black coat. Possibly a female Dracula costume.

Question: What's the name of the song that plays when Austin is running from the final football game to meet up with Sam in the crowd?

Answer: That song is "Hear You Me", by Jimmy Eat World.

Question: I've noticed in quite a few movies set in American high schools there is a certain student who talks on the PA system, acting as a sort of news reporter/DJ type thing. There is one in this film and another film that does it is 'She's All That'. My question is does this really happen in American schools? If so, why? What's the purpose of the role? And doesn't that student ever get to class? Thanks in advance.

Answer: Yes, this happens in most schools. The reason is that students are more likely to pay attention to announcements that are not made by a boring school employee. In many American schools, we have a phenomenon known as "home room". This is a short period usually first thing in the morning that is non-instructional when announcements are made, forms are filled out, and administrivial functions that don't have anything to do with any one class. At schools that don't have this, they have a thing called "study hall" or "independent study" which is a period where you sit in a classroom and work on your assignments, special functions for the school admin. like you are talking about are frequently done at these periods by students who are "working in the office" rather than studying. Then, there are schools that actually have classes in journalism, broadcasting, etc. where this activity would be part of the schoolwork.