What most don’t know is the things within WHS that are “off”. To name a few, the bathroom water is foggy and the WiFi connection is weak. More of the prominent “offs” that affect teachers and students daily is the occasional leaky ceiling, shades that don’t block the sun, Promethean boards don’t function properly, temperature is never the same in every room, and bathroom floods. As much as these small issues don’t appear relevant, they actually disrupt learning more often than not. 

English teacher Mrs. Hartell, inhabits a room where the ceiling leaks and unknown fluid onto students desks. This leaves a residue that must be constantly cleaned in order to use the desk. Additionally, despite having a perfectly functioning Promethean board, the shades that cross an entire wall don’t actually block the sun. Therefore, she cannot use her board. She states that “having shades that don’t block the sun means my first block classes can’t use the Promethean board” and ultimately “defeats the purpose of shades.” 

For students, the issue lies in the differences between classes. In each room, a personalized temperature gauge was recently installed in order to allow teachers to adjust the temperature in their rooms. However, for students this poses an issue. While some teachers may claim the temperature doesn’t change despite using the gauge, Senior Pankhudi Prasad stresses that the temperature differences in each room means “you can never correctly dress for class.” Either students will be wearing winter coats or short sleeves depending on which classes they plan to have that specific day. 

Ms. Shook, a recent addition to teacher faculty reports having constant technical issues with her Promethean board.  One of the issues include the touch sensors that connect the stylus to the board. During these technical issues, touching the touchscreen board has no effect despite the stylus and board being synced. Also, when the board is not touched, “the computer opens random pages or links.” Shook reports that it is rare the issues stop once resetting the board. This means it “often happens a few more times that day.” Having currently taught science classes, it is necessary for lesson slides to be displayed on the board for students and class lessons. The effectiveness of Shook’s classes are directly attributed to these technical issues.

It is not uncommon for floods In the bathrooms throughout the year. Administration Assistant Alissa Malhoit reports receiving maintenance calls regarding a flooded toilet about “1-2 times per week.” She also points out that “more often than not it is because something was flushed that should not have been.” A solution to solve this issue may be reprimanding people for flushing objects or putting posters in the bathroom warning against doing so. 

Solutions to maintenance issues could be an increase in funds or raising awareness of how these products can become damaged during the day. However, if you are having issues regarding maintenance, contact one of the two main offices to report your complaint or for students, tell your teacher.