On September 23rd, a ceiling tile in Room 298, also known as the physics room, fell due to flooding. This happened again about a week later, and has disrupted both physics students and teachers. Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon.
According to Mrs. Becker, “The first time was several years ago, so this problem has been ongoing for years… the first tile collapsed and another minute another tile collapsed. It’s really frightening”. She went on the record to state the many problems this collapse has caused throughout the years.
For one, learning is sometimes moved to other classrooms that don’t have sufficient learning materials, such as motion detectors and scales used for certain lab experiments. This change in scenery also impacts the students, as they have to learn in a new environment. As Mrs. Becker said, “While it’s happening, it’s both distracting and frightening to students who are there during the collapse. They are definitely directly impacted because they are feeling afraid about safety and also distracted by the physical conditions of the classroom”.
As a student in physics myself, I can personally attest to these problems. Classmates and I were more distracted in the new learning environment, and it was harder to learn. The room we had to use had a different layout, and normal learning patterns were disrupted.
In addition, Mrs. Becker voiced her personal struggles with teaching due to the ceiling collapse. When interviewed, she expressed her concerns, saying that “it could happen again”, and that it affects her teaching greatly.
Luckily, no one was harmed by the two instances this month. This is in large part due to the fast response of both Mrs. Becker and Mrs. Scarborough, as they both sectioned off parts of the class to prevent the tiles hitting anyone. While these tiles are not life-threatening, they still present a significant risk to students and teachers in the class. If not for the actions of our amazing teachers, a student could have been injured.
It is clear that this is a serious issue and needs to be resolved. For years now, every time it rains there is a risk of flooding and ceiling collapse. To the administrators’ credit, they are trying to fix this problem. In fact, the day that I interviewed Mrs. Becker, there were workers in the room trying to fix the problem. However, it is clear that more work needs to be done. This is an issue of both safety and learning, and needs further attention.
