Homeroom Olympics, Parking, and More at the Forum

By Erin Maxwell, Staff Writer
May 16, 2017

Students and faculty gathered in Room 61 during lunch today for the last Forum of the school year. Led by seniors Katie Wimsatt and Blake Stoner-Osborne, the attendees enjoyed free pizza while listening and participating in the discussion.

The meeting started with a discussion about Homeroom Olympics, as suggested by senior Chloe Williams. Williams brought up the most recent event, Taking Care of Each Other, and asked how it had been received by the student body. Most people were fans of the event but had concerns that the only people going to the events were those in the homeroom that organized it.

The discussion moved to how to encourage more participation in the events (suggestions included doing homeroom announcements and encouraging homeroom teacher participation) and who the new leader of the committee will be now that Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones is retiring (it was suggested that a student leader be appointed as well).

Principal Bjorn Paige brought up that the faculty are attempting to fix the parking issue, but won’t be able to permanently fix it until 2019 when the P-Quad buildings are removed. However, the school has decided to open up the first row of parking spots in the front parking lot on Santa Fe. This should open up around 50 more spots for students, Paige said. Williams also mentioned that students who wish to talk more about the parking issue can come to the parking forum on Thursday at lunch in room 70.

Senior Megan Levan then brought up the topic of campus recycling — namely, how there isn’t any. She pointed out that all the recyclable materials put in the blue containers around campus were thrown into the trash dumpster and not the single recycling dumpster on campus. Students suggested different solutions, including giving volunteer hours to students who take out the recycling and using remind 101 to remind people that Thursday is recycling day. Many agreed that the most important way to fix it was to educate people about the lack of recycling on campus.

Finally, Senior Kim Quach introduced the topic of food and packaging waste on campus. She said that the food portions offered on campus are oversized and often lead to waste, and much of the food comes in wasteful packaging. People were unsure how to solve the problem as a lot of the wasteful packaging comes from outside companies, but suggested a composting system for leftover food.