By ELLA SAMS – Broadcast Staff
Four weeks into the school year, construction continues to affect Clarke Central High School students. Students have found that navigating from class to class is not an easy task.
“My route is a little longer, for example I have to go out to the old freshman hallway, and there is no longer a hallway from (the main) building to that one, so I have to go all the way across the building to the door near the media center, go all the way outside, then go upstairs,” junior Thomas Willey said. “It’s a bit complicated.”
Tardies have reflected the time it takes to travel around construction.
“I have classes in the old building, I have to go all the way to the new building, I come in late, they mark me tardy,” junior Jaqua Daniels said.
The construction has shown not only to cause tardies, but other problems as well.
“Well, any time you have a major construction project during school or in the middle of the school year, it’s a lot of things to get used to,” Assistant Principal Reginald Thomas said. “I think the biggest difference is it’s almost like the buildings are separated into different islands. It’s a lot of walking involved for students to get from point A to point B. Also you have to be careful. It’s dangerous, there are a lot of dangers.”
Many teachers and administrators are aware of this dilemma, and are doing everything they can to make construction less of a distraction to learning.
“We try to communicate to all of our teachers that it’s really hard to navigate this building in five minutes, especially when you’re going from the west wing back to the main building, and out there with our freshmen out in the learning village going to PE. So the teachers are mindful of the fact,” Thomas said. “Just like the students, they have to walk the building to get from place to place. They should be aware it’s really hard to maneuver this building in five minutes. So it’s just about giving grace.”