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 By Jack Lepiarz Nov. 30, 2005 Madison High School has an interesting approach to heating its schools. Firstly, having heat come out of the ceiling is absolutely brilliant. Whereas other facilities might invest in a heater closer to the ground, so as to avoid having all the warm air simply rise to the ceiling, my school decides to put heating vents in the ceiling. So much for efficient fuel consumption. But what's strange about the heating system is that it never seems turned on until well into December, and even then, it doesn't get turned on in rooms where windows don't close, which brings me to another point: the awful state of our school structure in general. Many of the windows don't open, the school is crowded, congested, and (though the school administration denies this) it is absolutely impossible to get from one end of the school to the other in the allotted time between classes (3 minutes). Until my junior year, there were constant leaks in the ceilings, even when it wasn't raining (I have no idea how that happens). Almost every day, F hall (where my locker is, conveniently enough) would be flooded with water that overflowed the trash cans that the school put out in a desperate attempt to clean up the situation. This solved problems for a little while, but only made the problems of congestion in the hallways even worse. Between being in excellent standing with the school's upper administrators, the principal, the assistant principal, the superintendent, etc., and doing the morning announcements every morning, I have had my fair share of visits to the office (none of them disciplinary, I'm happy to say). This morning, however, as I went into the office, I noticed a large binder sitting on the shelf labeled "Radon Problem." That certainly got my attention. I did not ask anyone about it, so I cannot officially raise any accusations. However, there are certainly possibilities that I could consider, especially as I learned that we had an asbestos problem earlier this year in one of our classrooms. If this is as bad as I might think, then this is an issue that most certainly needs to be addressed. Of course, it's very possible that this could be nothing more than me crying wolf. We'll see. Despite the awful conditions of MHS, students here have never been granted any semblance of an open-campus policy. Not only that, but teachers lock doors on school sponsored events happening outside. How anal can they get? I have spoken to both the principal and the superintendent on this issue, and neither gave me much optimism on the issue. Why is it that seniors (ages 17 and 18) that will be in college this time next year, completely on their own, are not trusted enough to leave school for 45 minutes? Get real. Many of my peers, myself included, have spent entire weeks by ourselves, cooking meals, taking care of the house, etc., and the Board of Education can't trust us enough to grant us 45 minutes of freedom? All actions taken by any student are closely monitored by teachers (although there are lovely, lovely loopholes), Internet access (apparently, including the word "faggot" caused one of my articles to be censored by the school), going to the bathroom, and just about any other action taken by a student is recorded by the school. Does anyone really look at these? No. Is there a point to them? No. Can the school trust us? Apparently, the answer is no. ------------ About the author: Jack Lepiarz is a senior at Madison High School. Born in Waco, Texas, he lived with the Big Apple Circus for much of his early childhood, eventually moving to Madison, New Jersey, where he now resides. Although he is often described as stubborn and egotistical, he tries to keep an open-mind towards new ideas and treat people the way he would like to be treated. Email: Jackwuzhere42@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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