By Alex Eskew
Photo by Alex Eskew
It’s impossible to miss the Willow School’s latest fashion change. The building which has stood since 1931 is now dressed in steel and tarp, but why is that? The answer is simple: New Orleans’ constant downpours are to blame (well, apart from this summer’s west Texas-style dry conditions). Water has leaked through the side of the building by way of cracks between old masonry. This has caused water to enter the interior walls and create the nasty cracks and bubbles we see forming in the stairwell sheetrock.
With all of this new construction taking place on campus, it is important to gather opinions on the effects it has had on both students and faculty. According to Mr. Hill, this is a much-needed project that will greatly improve the quality of life for everyone going forward. Despite the obvious improvement the school will receive, such as having a water-tight building so we won’t have to close school after every tropical storm threatens water damage, the construction is causing major headaches.
“I had to be moved to room 220 while the workers took care of things on my side of the building,” said Media Arts teacher, Mr. Soileau. “I have a classroom that has more equipment and specific needs than other teachers’ classrooms, but I can live with it. I understand why they’re fixing things, and everyone is going to have to deal with inconveniences. It’ll be nice to have new windows soon.”
“At first I wasn’t thrilled to be in the modular because there’s no bathroom in the building and only one small window per room,” Ms. Crockett said, “but now that I hear the noise in various locations in the main building, I’m glad to be in the mod.”
But what about our high school students?
“Jazz band block doesn’t feel much different,” Sivaan Barack said. “Having a smaller room keeps students all closer together, and the acoustics aren’t bad, either. We’re also further away from the other school bands, which works out well in our favor.”
Another more universal detail Barack noted in the mod is that “the A.C. works surprisingly well. I even get cold sometimes.”
These modulars don’t sound too bad, now,, do they? Well, other teachers have their own things to say. “Possibly most frustrating is students don’t take a key to go to the bathroom during class and wind up getting locked out of the building, and it cuts into classroom time,” said P.E. Coach Fogarty. She also mentions the inconvenience of not having the usual projectors in the modular rooms, having instead portable SmartBoards that some modular teachers are still working on getting the hang of. “It’ll probably be quarter 4 before I figure out not to touch the SmartBoard and make my PowerPoint disappear,” Ms. Crockett said. “I’m used to touching words projected onto the white board and writing on it with an Expo, and I’m very slow with new tech. One day I wrote on the SmartScreen with an Expo. It came off, thankfully, but that was embarrassing.”
Some lament the temporary loss of the quad to the mod.
“I am sad not having the use of the quad,” Fogarty said, “because I would use that sometimes for P.E., and I think it’s nice having more outdoor space, especially when the weather gets cooler.”
This leads to my next discovery from Mr. Hill on what the plans for the quad might be once this construction concludes. Although uncertain, he did hint to me that the fresh walls around the quad would be perfect for murals, a fantastic idea that I have had several students say they would love to see implemented. Hopefully, when all the construction is done and the school is in ship shape, we’ll have the added benefit of being surrounded by gorgeous student art when we’re in the quad. Now, that’s a perk an arts school should definitely have.
