As cold wind makes the air frigid and the sky is overcast with an oncoming storm, many students on Sierra Pacific High School’s campus are still stuck shivering outside with nowhere to go to warm up until lunch passes.
While it is true that students could go to the library or cafeteria, both of which are indoors, this solution still isn’t enough. Students aren’t allowed to bring their food or drinks into the library for obvious reasons; the librarians wouldn’t be too happy about a sticky soda spilling on their new carpets and desks and especially their expensive library books. This is an obstacle for students who would like to eat indoors during lunch and chat with their friends at the same time. However, the cafeteria is often way too crowded and can be too loud for students who get overwhelmed easily. It is hard to talk comfortably to your friends and it can also be hard to find a table that isn’t already taken if you aren’t early enough.
So, where does this leave most students? Outside and shivering during the winter or outside and sweating in the summer.
With nowhere to even sit, many students often sit in the grass or on the small concrete walls, however not even this is an option during the winter. With the grass in most areas being frosted over and muddy and the concrete walls being wet and too cold to sit on.
If students were able to go into the halls during lunch, then they would have somewhere warm to sit down and wouldn’t have to worry about the crowding of the other areas.
Staff members argue that it would be hard to regulate students in the halls, but there could be assigned hall monitors that take care of this. Students could apply for this position for community service hours or could have some kind of incentive to encourage it. There could also be staff that could do so as well for extra money and such.
There is also the argument around students testing in class. This is easy to refute, though, as there are designated testing times during zero hour in the morning when the halls are empty. Students can also test after school if necessary when the teachers allow it. The hall monitors could also help keep the halls quieter and there could be rules about staying in the halls to help combat this issue. Like the library doesn’t allow food and drinks, the halls could have rules about not yelling and not throwing things and running around.
It is important for students to have somewhere to stay when the weather outside is less than bearable. Many students would appreciate the extra space to hang around and be sheltered from the weather conditions as it is currently too difficult to find good spots outside. While it might be difficult to implement at first, it would be very beneficial to the campus and would make many students very happy and help them to feel more comfortable and welcome in the school as well.
