The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

The Student news source for West Shore Junior/Senior High School

The Roar

Inconsistent temperatures distract students

Sophomore Kayley Lew sits freezing in her desk, unable to concentrate on the algebra worksheet in front of her. The air in math teacher Steven Thomas’ classroom is anything but room temperature towards the beginning of the year, transforming into an artificial arctic wonderland when one of the air conditioning units went haywire.

“One day as I was teaching class, there was a loud pop,” Thomas said. “A piece of electronics failed and broke within the air conditioning coil, which had formed ice and soon began to melt into one huge puddle on the floor next to the unit.”

Lew experienced first-hand the effects of the broken AC unit.

“There was frost on the windows and many students brought winter coats to wear during class because the air was so frigid,” Lew said.

However, workers from the school board were eventually sent out and fixed the AC problem, although Thomas did notice the freezing classroom temperatures to be a distraction for his students.

“Students were so cold that they used creative ways, like placing textbooks on the vents, to block the flow of air,” Thomas said.

Although the climate problem in Thomas’ room is now fixed, other teachers such as Advanced Placement Human Geography teacher Brooke Owen-Thomas, are still facing troublesome AC units daily.

“The AC doesn’t come on until the room reaches a certain temperature,” Owen-Thomas said. “The air in the room has to get pretty warm before the unit senses the heat, which then triggers the AC to turn on. And even then only one unit blows cool air, while the other two are just circulating fans.”

Senior Michelle McCullers, however, says the air in Owen-Thomas’ room usually is too cold.

“Mrs. Owen-Thomas’ room is always freezing in third period,” McCullers said. “All you can think about is how freezing you are.”

McCullers wishes for administration to try and regulate the air within classrooms to room temperature, but Owen-Thomas said that would be nearly impossible.

“I don’t think administration can do anything about it since they have no control,” Owen-Thomas said. “It’s all controlled by the school district, who will not turn on the AC any earlier than what they see fit.”

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