Students are just dying to get inside Knoch High School! Why?
Given the choice between standing in a line of kids outside the building or walking the halls inside, they take the latter.
As the year began, most kids were on their way to school with thoughts and worries about finding their way to classes, who to sit with at lunch, and meeting new teachers. However, they didn’t expect that their first challenge would be met before even entering the building.
Junior Abby Markiewicz shared her frustration about the morning. She has multiple bags every day, which does not mix well with the craziness.
“The chaos has led to getting to classes later, waiting outside especially in cold weather, and just frustration in general,” she said.
Upon arriving at the entrance, students were met with a long line of their peers waiting to get inside and through the metal detectors. But why was this the case?
As we all know, Knoch is undergoing construction. As a result, the main entrance is closed. Unfortunately this was the entrance that split middle and high school students.
However, with its unavailability, the 7th, 8th, and high school students are confined to just two entrances.
Head of school police, Mr. Sarnese explains what they’ve decided to do to abate some of the congestion.
“We did try to alleviate the crowding by having five of the buses who unload at the music doors, drop them off at the gym entrance instead,” he said.
Though the morning is filled with much confusion, there has not been any reported misconduct or inappropriate behavior. In fact, the opposite has been occurring.
Mrs. Lambert, a member of the metal detector staff and teacher at the Intermediate School, has had a pleasant experience working with students every morning.
“Students, I feel, are very respectful to myself and others. It’s actually nice to see former students,” she said.
In fact, the most problems they’ve had isn’t because of students quarreling with other students, it’s simply because of the new sixth graders.
“I believe the sixth graders are the primary reason for congestion just because they are new to it all and have lots of anxiety about them,” Sarnese said.
As time goes on, it seems that the situation is working itself out. However, some people, like Markiewicz, have been coming up with ideas and suggestions that they think could help the situation. She said,
“I think we could send the rest of the middle schoolers down to their entrance and/or add another metal detector between the two backstage doors by the auditorium.”
Since the very first day of school, the mornings have seemed to become much more organized. However, it is all still a bit slow and tedious to go through each and every day. How much more of it will students take?
Luckily Mr. Sarnese has high hopes.
He said, “I think with time and refamiliarization, students will work themselves out and we’ll be running smoothly.”
