From the Classroom Under the Stairs
Opinion
There’s a classroom in the picture. Can you spot it?
The Coleytown merger has been tough on all classes and students, but if you want to see an example of how extreme the relocation of classes is, look no further than Workshop.
Workshop’s main idea is to train kids to be able to cope with challenges, ideas and explore different ideas that are in the classroom. One of those is coping with challenges, and oh boy, do we have to cope a challenge after the Coleytown building was re-discovered to have mold. And yes, while many people have had to move classrooms, overcrowd art classes, lost their pod, overcrowded the hallways, or have their P.E. classes in the hallways, I’d like to add to this list the change workshop kids have to face.
I just want to say that in no way do I blame Coleytown students for this. The merger was an unexpected change that they had nothing to do with. This is also not meant to call out the office’s best efforts to move students and classes around to fit the extra 300 students.
Before the move,Workshop sat at the end of the downstairs hallway, with the name above the picture of Einstein on the door. The classroom itself was nice, roomy, changeable for the different units and ideas each grade looked at.
Now, jump to today. You know the lost and found, underneath the main stairway? Look right of that and there it is. Workshop. It is literally under the stairs.
Always up for a challenge, the Workshop teachers have done an amazing job trying to make it feel like home, going with a “Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs” magical vibe.
Mrs. Rao and Mrs. Rynderman have been working hard moving items and decorating to make this not so cozy space feel like a classroom for the foreseeable future. They have hung up quotes, created signs and tried bring or recreate things from the old classroom, like the riddle of the day and the keyboard. To ease the dull walls surrounding the space, students have tried to work with the cupboard-under-the-stairs theme, decorating the walls with golden snitches and Dumbledore quotes. There have also been the addition of lamps to brighten up the otherwise dark space.
But imagine that you are underneath where students will be stomping and jumping and right where everyone at lunch can see you doing your nerdy stuff. Even though the Workshop teachers have done an amazing job giving up their space to science, P.E., drama, health, and quiet reading time during CMS lunch, we can’t ignore the fact that this move has not only affected the preference and routine of students, but also the learning and education of others.
The space is nothing like that of the Workshop room, with its two tables and cramped vibe. The entire classroom is modeled around the borders of the staircase and the Lost and Found tables. All of the materials and resources for the classroom beforehand have been crammed onto shelves. The classroom is cut off by a knee-length blue wall that runs perpendicular to the grey benches in the cafeteria, and is in an “L” shape because of one of the elevator pillar.
Some find it hard to study, research, and work with loud noises and the distractions of students running outside their hallway. But imagine that that hallway is you’re classroom, and that they’re running right through it. Against the best efforts of the Workshop teachers to make it feel cozy, (and they are really trying,) the space will never be like the old classroom, just like how it will never be like Hogwarts to Harry. But with the optimism of our teachers, we can hold off in these dark days until the dark lord is defeated, and everything is back the way it should be. After all, what’s the purpose of learning to be thoughtful, understanding and open minded if you can’t apply it to life.