Brrr! It’s 8 am on a Tuesday and you pass a freshman boy in shorts. You think, “That kid is crazy,” as you head into your freezing first-period class. The two populations at Arcata High are at war, people who wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts, and people who wear lots of layers. Is it related to IQ? Probably.
Now, how can we combat the blistering cold of Arcata High School classrooms?
Some knowledgeable students have the answer. The most popular solution was layering.
“On average, I wear 3 layers,” senior Lily Cunningham said.
Most seemed to agree with Cunningham, saying 3 layers are optimum for combating the cold.
Some wear blankets, as Owen Moore, a history teacher at AHS, pointed out.
“Students wear blankets as clothing like Julius Caesar,” Moore said.
Others (mostly freshman boys) say there is no need to combat the cold with layers.
“They [people that wear multiple layers] need to move to Texas or Arizona,” junior Ocean Walker said.
Walker is not alone in this thinking, with many winter shorts lovers agreeing with him.
“I have made snow angels in shorts and a t-shirt,” freshman Oliver Boyd said.
When asked if he owns pants, “Uh, no,” was Boyd’s reply.
But, why is owning pants necessary? Hundreds of cold classrooms freeze students’ brains, not allowing them to focus. Thankfully we have some saviors in our midst. “I like to keep it toasty warm,” Laurie Griffith, a teacher at AHS, said when talking about her classroom. Jason Sidell, a teacher at AHS, agreed with his industrial shop heater blasting the cold away. Still, many teachers get accused of making their classrooms ice boxes. Moore was one of the accused, his response chopped the haters down.
“People come into class in pajamas, beach clothes, and underwear and stand in the rain and cold. Are they cold because of the classroom or are they unprepared?” Moore said.
On the other hand, some teachers are just victims of unfortunate events.
“Ms. Kell’s heater was broken for multiple days, and I was shivering, she [Kell] was so apologetic,” senior Hiro Sugata said.
When teachers and students alike are divided by this controversial issue, we know we must take action.
“You can always be bold and ask if can we close the door maybe because it’s 40 degrees outside,” Cunningham said.
So, if you feel a calling to speak up about this travesty, do it.
