Kids are excited to be back in the building as they are given the opportunity to have blended classes coming back from the pandemic.
Sophomores and freshmen are unfamiliar with the amazing opportunity Huntley High School has to offer, since they are unable to leave the building during their blended periods. Unlike juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores are left to find areas in the school to sit in and work on their assigned work.
As well as the new coffee shop that is now open at the school, many juniors and seniors stay at school to work instead of leaving the building and getting their usual coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks.
Students have been facing challenges from the start of blended learning this year due to the limited areas they are allowed to go to during their periods. Kids are annoyed with the situation because they want to sit and work on their assignment without any distractions around them.
“Sometimes the passive commons are really crowded or like loud and sometimes it’s nice to get away from there and find somewhere more peaceful, but the only places you can do that there’s like not really anywhere to go,” sophomore Ellie Pauwels said.
Throughout the school, there are many areas consisting of tables and chairs, but students are not allowed to go there. Students are only given permission to sit in the passive commons and cafeteria, along with the hub.
“I think it’s stupid because why have all of those seating areas around the school and not let us sit there?” junior Ashley Gerard said.
One of the areas where students are unable to sit and work on their assignments, is in the west wing hallway with the view of the tennis courts. This hallway is always quiet for the reason that it is not directly near a classroom.
“I think it’s stupid… the west wing is further away from people and it’s quieter over there and it’s a lot easier to get things done instead of sitting in the common area where there’s always people there,” junior Syd Wenckaitis said.
Despite students being furious over the seating struggles during blended periods, HHS administration and staff want to make sure every student is supervised to ensure safety.
“We have a large building with 3,100 kids and in order to make sure we have supervision, we need to limit to where you can go in the building,”Alice Ohlinger, HHS A-G pod dean, said.
Recently HHS has made multiple modifications as to where students can be throughout the building during their blended periods, but, because of this, it has taken away privileges from students wanting to work in peace. The school does offer a quiet place to work in, which is the hub, but it will not hold all of the students that want to focus on their schoolwork in peace.
Many students are hoping for changes to be made, in order to have access to the other areas around the school to provide a larger working environment.