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With long-awaited renovations finally underway at the school, students are quick to form opinions and have been vocal about their support or opposition to any updates. But what do Avonworth graduates think of the upcoming changes? I talked to my older siblings, Tyler (class of 2017) and Chloe (class of 2019) for their input on the renovations to their old school.
“My biggest problem was always the classrooms in the H hallway that didn’t have any windows,” says Tyler, which is clearly outdated since I’ve never heard anyone refer to a hallway with a mod. He goes on to describe the depressing effects of spending half his day in windowless prison rooms. “I feel like all the general purpose classrooms should have at least one window.” According to some teachers, the rooms without outdoor windows will be getting windows to the hallways, allowing students to see an extra brick wall and bathe in a few more fluorescent lights. This isn’t exactly what my brother had in mind.
Tyler also commented on the narrow hallways making it difficult to get from place to place, describing the rush in between classes as a “shoving match.” Chloe agreed that the hallway rushes have been a long-standing big problem. Even in 2017 this issue was blatantly obvious to students, but Avonworth has grown tremendously since then, with most classes seeing a noticeable increase over the years with areas like Cobblestone bringing more families into the district.
Getting rid of the lockers was the first renovation I heard about and it left a bad taste in many students’ mouths. There’s the obvious practical need to store your bags and belongings in, from heavy textbooks that weigh down your bag to a winter coat or wet umbrella. Then there’s the tradition of locker decorating. Senior lockers are traditionally decorated for sports teams and certain clubs or activities to celebrate the graduating class of that year. Admittedly eliminating the lockers from the hallways will provide some much-needed space. Then again, there’s only so much a construction team can do to stop crowded, hormonal teenagers from shoving a couple freshmen every now and then.
“Why would marginally bigger hallways be better than lockers?” Chloe asked, and a question I cannot answer. My brother gave a more ominous response to learning the details of the renovations: “Sounds like they’re trying to put a bandaid on a problem that needs a whole amputation.” Cryptic.
Not wanting to leave them with a bitter view of their high school, I asked them to reflect on what features of the school they liked, and would like to see live through the renovations for the next generations. Tyler complimented the logistics of the general layout of the middle and high school. “Having all of the classrooms in one end of the building, split perfectly in half between the middle and high school, and then the shared language hall, then having the gyms, cafeterias, and the auditorium just makes a ton of sense to me and makes it so you aren’t constantly running from one end of the school to the other.”
As for Chloe: “I like the sunshine hallway.” She also added a thumbs up emoji to keep it professional.
As we head into the summer with new renovations on the horizon, let’s try to be optimistic! The plans for the front of the school is definitely an upgrade from the dull brick we have now, and the renovations in the library have already started, giving the room more space for our final few weeks of this school year. The renovations no doubt have the students’ best interest in mind, so let’s put some trust in our school and see what the ‘22-’23 school year brings!
This was a very amusing article to read; the dry humor was incredibly funny! Great job!