The Most Important Thing that Students and Teachers Want in a New School
With the county looking to build a new high school in the near future, many students and teachers have ideas of what needs to be in the new school.
Woodford County High School was built in 1963 and has seen many additions throughout the years. Woodford County is one of the oldest buildings in the region and has seen multiple generations go through its doors.
In the Spring of 2018, Woodford County tried to pass a new tax that would help build a new, proposed high school. During that vote, many voters in the county went to the polls and the new tax was knocked down by a narrow margin. Even though this happened, the school board is still moving forward with plans for the new school. There have been architects that have come around the school and talked with teachers and administrators about the new school. Even though the new school might not be built for a few years, the plans are now starting to be drawn up.
The school that we are currently in was built in 1963, making this building 57 years old. The building has had some additions over the years, but the building as a whole has been showing its cracks for a long time now. Over the summer, there were bats, bugs, and a whole load of other creatures that call this building their summer getaway. Whenever you sit next to a window in the winter, you have to have a coat and a hat with you because of how cold it gets. In half of the rooms, there are old TV’s that look like they don’t even have color. The roofs and windows leak when its been raining for a long time and, when the rain is bad, the bathrooms and band room flood. To say the least, the school is old and many people think that we need a new one.
When it comes to our school compared to the others around the region, we are in a class of our own (in a bad way).
The middle school was built in 2006 and is one of the newest buildings in the county. The school is spacious and has a nicer appeal to it. Another school close to our school is Anderson County High School. Even though their building was built in 1965, they added another building to the original one. “This building is much older. The facilities in Anderson County are much nicer and we have more access to technology,” said Matthew Quire (12) who went to Anderson County for the majority of his high school career.
The one problem that students and teachers have with the current school is the bathrooms.
This is the girl’s bathroom outside of the school cafeteria. The door is locked for some reason and this is a common occurrence that happens throughout the school. Why is the bathroom is shut down? There are different reasons why they get shut down, but the quality on the inside doesn’t change when they get opened back up.
“Honestly, I think the most crucial thing now is the bathroom situation. It’s not okay that we go in there (the girl’s bathroom next to the cafeteria),” said Ms. Amro, who is a second-year Social Studies teacher. When a student or teacher enters a bathroom in the school, they are greeted by an odd sight. The bathrooms in the school look depressing. “The bathrooms vibe is the worst part, ” said Nate Janzow, “The sinks look nasty enough to where they seem like you’d be better off not washing your hands.” In some of the bathrooms around the school, there aren’t even mirrors in front of the sinks. The floors are probably the worst part of the bathrooms in our school.
With the current problems going on with the school, many had suggestions on what should be in the new school. “I would love to have windows in my classroom. I don’t have windows. I think that every room needs windows,” said Ms. Amro. ” I would want the new school to be safe. Not to say that this school isn’t safe, it’s the fact that this is a really old building and things have changed since this building was built,” said Ms. Amro. “The vibe of the school is one of the worst things about the building,” Nate Janzow continued, “I would want a school that is clean and new; something that wasn’t made for people this many people.”
This is a picture inside of Ms. Amro’s classroom where there are no windows at all. Her classroom is located in the corner of the Social Studies hallway and has no natural light whatsoever. Because of the lack of windows, the room seems darker than all of the other classrooms in the entire school.
Also, the new school can help the community more than anything. New schools are said to help student achievement, raise property values, and help contribute to local economies. With a new school, more community events could be held which would have community members coming into a new, clean environment. Schools have historically been centers for economic growth in communities and a new school here would be no different. The property values of homes and businesses increase when a new school is built. A new school would most certainly be a breath of fresh air for students, staff, and the community as a whole.
Will Fisher is a senior at WCHS and is a part of the high school swim and lacrosse team. He has been on the swim team for four years and the lacrosse team...
