On January 8th, the entire student population at State High took monumental steps together across the street, all “standing together” and joining as one in the new building. We were promised state of the art technology, spacious classrooms, remarkable facilities, and water bottle stations galore. Instead, we got stray planks of wood, unfinished staircases, confusingly named pods, and incredibly long hallways. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn in a new (and asbestos free) environment. However, some students don’t exactly feel that the new building lived up to all of the hype it was given. Upon this change, State High’s student body had a lot of things to say about our new and (somewhat) improved learning environment.

Bryant Atanasio, senior, seemed to have a popularly held opinion, stating that he “thought the new building was very nice, but was taken aback by how generic and spartan it was.” Many have compared the area to a hospital, an airport, a parking garage, and even a prison. Aside from the obvious errors in the order of the pod names, being D, C, B, A, E respectively, several students have also brought up an issue with the 8:05 bell, which sounds more like a military wake-up call than a warning to get to class.

Chloe Webb, senior, has expressed a distaste for the lengthy hallways, saying, “getting from class to class can be hard, the hallways are really long. A couple times my legs have hurt after walking from pod A to D.” There is a hallway on each of the main levels that stretches from the end of pod A to pod D, which many students have to walk the entire length of to get from class to class. Although convenient, the hallways have proven to be very long.

Not all opinions are bad, though. Junior Sydney Callenberger appreciates the color coded seating areas, as well as the new restrooms, stating, “The seating areas are very beneficial to students who want a relaxing space to get their work done, and the bathrooms are very clean and very efficient.” Many students eat lunch or spend their study halls in the comfortable and egg-shaped chairs, dubbing them a cozy and relaxing area to hang out.

In addition, family and consumer sciences teacher Barbara Judy has communicated a liking for the new cooking areas, saying that “The kitchens are great. We got all new appliances and cabinets, and there’s a ton more space.” The new cooking room located in the top floor of the A pod has five kitchens, all outfitted with state of the art stoves, refrigerators, and ovens, and brand new cabinetry.

Overall, the good of the new building greatly outweighs the not-so-good. We as students may have some minor complaints, but do recognize the hard work and time put into creating this school. We appreciate all that was done to prepare the building, and are very thankful to have been given the opportunity to learn here.