We are melting.
Edison High School (EHS) has over 2,383 students circling the hallways and classrooms every single day. A building with an overcapacity of students becomes unbearable without any room to breathe. Why does this school have a new science building and a media center with PCs installed, yet no central air conditioning? Air conditioning would assist both students and educators in the learning process by contributing to a comfortable learning environment.
In the summer months, many students wish for some relief from the classrooms. Walking into school often feels like walking into a sauna, especially with so many people in each room at the same time. Even the hallways are insufferable. They are cramped, sweaty, and disgusting due to the heat and the crowded conditions.
This struggle is unacceptable. It feels as though we are dying of heat exhaustion, forced to spend seven hours a day trapped in a suffocating environment and struggling to concentrate. Students participating in sports or extracurricular activities in such oppressive heat often face greater challenges, which are detrimental to a teenager’s well-being.
In all fairness, it is understandable that funding for air conditioning needs to be taken into account. Budgets are limited, and schools must make careful decisions about distributing limited resources. However, comfort should be seen as a necessity. It’s not justified to use school funding towards unnecessary things such as TVs in the cafeteria, new sports equipment, and updated fields. The second it gets warm outside, every student in EHS struggles with the heat. School is all about learning and personal growth. How can one learn in such intolerable conditions, where students cannot focus, let alone form coherent thoughts that fit the rigorous educational standard?
It is a problem that needs to be discussed more often. Not only are students struggling in the heat, but teachers are as well. Many teachers do not have fans in their classrooms, as it is something that is not provided for them. If fans that provide an illusion of support are restricted, how can students and teachers feel welcome or encouraged?
An uncomfortable learning environment directly impacts academic performance. If students and teachers are exhausted from the heat, their ability to concentrate and teach declines. In turn, good performance on assessments and assignments also decline.
And yet, while students melt in class like a wax candle, the main administration and their support staff have air-conditioning within their offices. Every day, at the start and end of the school year, students swelter for over seven hours while the administration enjoys cool—often frigid—air conditioning. Edison High School prides itself on “Eagle Pride” and pushes its students to embrace the “Red and Gold” spirit, but ensuring that all students have a comfortable learning environment would better reflect these values.
In modern times, with rising temperatures and students becoming more accustomed to cooler environments, the need for air-conditioning has increased. Cherry-picking where air-conditioning should or should not be may give students the impression that they are not prioritized in Edison Township and that their needs are overlooked. Students should be made to feel like a part of a family in a home that prioritizes their needs.
Students aren’t asking for luxury. We are asking to learn in modern comfort. If the school can afford a new science wing, a high-tech media center, and air-conditioning for the main offices, what’s prohibiting AC in classrooms? It’s time for EHS to put sweaty students first.
