After nearly three years at Leesville, I feel like I know my way around and know how things work. For the most part, the school day runs smoothly, and the students and staff are happy with the way things are. Nonetheless, I feel like there are certain matters that are constantly complained about, but never get addressed. So here are a few improvements (in my opinion) that should be made at Leesville.
1. Warning Bells for A and B lunches.
Ever since the “Start On Time” program began at Leesville, students scurry to class in the hopes of avoiding lunch detention. The three short dings of the warning bell always make the hallway traffic move a little bit faster, and Leesville students now depend on the warning bell to know how fast they need to walk. Unfortunately, students walking back from the Student Parking Lot after A and B lunch don’t have a warning bell, for the simple reason that there are already “too many” bells sounding during third period. As a student who has had B lunch, and therefore no warning bell, for two semesters this year, one more bell would not cause too much of a disturbance, and would be greatly appreciated.
2. The door on the side of the cafeteria.
Students who travel from the East Building to the Main Building, or vice versa, know what I’m talking about. The tiny, single-wide door on the side of the cafeteria next to the vending machines is overloaded during every class change. Hundreds of students have to go through a door single file in six minutes, which causes a major traffic jam and major frustration. If the school would be willing to move a vending machine or two and widen that little door, students could get to their classes faster and not have to shove through a mass of people.
3. Phones between classes and at lunch.
Every day, teachers and administrators confiscate at least twenty cell phones from students walking down the hallways or sitting at lunch checking their texts. I completely understand that phones shouldn’t be out during classes while teachers are trying to teach, but between classes and at lunch, having your phone out shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe if we were allowed to have our phones outside of class, we wouldn’t try to sneak a few texts while our teacher isn’t looking.
4. Slippery Stairs
Maybe it’s just me, but walking up and down the stairs to the Student Parking Lot in the rain often results in a few slips and slides. The concrete is slippery and hard to walk on (for me at least) even when it’s dry, much less pouring down rain or icy. I’m positive that all my fellow klutzes would appreciate some kind of non-slip something on the stairs.
5. Wednesday’s Schedule
Don’t get me wrong, getting out of school an hour early on Wednesday is a great idea. Teachers get to have meetings without staying after school, and students get to go have lunch with their friends or go hang out before heading home to start on homework. But what if we moved the hour early release to the morning, so we started school at 8:25 instead of 7:25? Teachers would still get their meetings, but we students would get an extra hour of sleep. I know this is more of a Wake County issue than a Leesville issue, but offering some suggestions can’t hurt.
6. White Walls
Every classroom in Leesville looks the same: boring, dreary, white-beige walls. A few teachers try to spice up their rooms with colorful subject-related posters, but for the most part, everything looks pretty boring. The color of a room may seem insignificant, but spending almost eight hours a day, five days a week in a beige room is…boring. I’m not asking for electric pink or highlighter-yellow, but a light blue or pale yellow would brighten things up without being obnoxious.
7. Student Parking Lot Traffic Jam
The traffic jam that occurs around 2:35 every afternoon, right after school gets out. With students rushing to get to work, grab a snack before coming back for sports practice, or just heading home for the day, the wait just to be able to back out of your parking spot feels like hours. Then, drivers have to wait to get into one of the two lanes out of the school. One way out for a few hundred cars seems a little ridiculous. If there was a back entrance/exit from the parking lot, students who park in the Junior Lot could go out one way, and kids in the Senior Lot could go out the current exit. This could prevent a lot of headaches and make getting out of school easier on everyone.
