The student news site of Bloomington High School South

The Optimist

The student news site of Bloomington High School South

The Optimist

The student news site of Bloomington High School South

The Optimist

Much ado about lockers

Much+ado+about+lockers
Calvin Prenkert

South has enough lockers for all students and then some, but in the past two years, it has become apparent that very few South students actually use their lockers. This change in culture came about in the fall of 2015 when South administration rescinded the “no backpacks” rule that was implemented in 2001. Now, the majority of students just cram their backpacks chalked full of the supplies they’ll need and lug them around the school.

This is not just a South issue, it’s happening nationwide. In a last chance effort to save the lockers, Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, started offering students the ability to opt out of getting an assigned locker. For those who decide they want to have a locker, they are allowed to pick which hallway and floor they’d like it to be in. The hope is that students gain a spark of interest in using the lockers because if the plans fails, the lockers will likely be taken out. It’s not unrealistic to think that South maybe trending towards a similar predicament in the near future.

Some students do still use their lockers. Junior Hope Gummere uses her locker on a daily basis, despite carrying a backpack and driving her own car to school. Gummere favors a small pitstop on the way to her classes as opposed to the strain of carrying multiple textbooks in a small backpack.
“I use my locker because it’s more convenient, it’s right on my way and it means I don’t have to carry my huge textbooks and lunchbox to all my classes.” Gummere said. She admits however, that she probably wouldn’t use her locker if it wasn’t in such a great location.

Other students such as sophomore Thomas Joyce and junior Adam Weiler are quick to divulge that they don’t even know where their lockers are. “Even if I did know where it is, I don’t know the combination” said Joyce. Weiler agreed, adding “I remember using it freshman year, but now it would just be out of my way, and I’d have to remember which exact one it is.”

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Both Wieler and Joyce agree that although they may not use their lockers, getting rid of them is not the best plan of action. “(Getting rid of lockers) would be a bad idea. Because some of my friends still use their lockers, I just don’t,” Weiler said.  

Students who don’t drive to school but participate in after school activities, specifically sports, rely on their lockers, too. Junior Dexter Wu-Corts has used his locker to stow his tennis bag since his freshman year, and he’s not the only one. Many students have nowhere else to put their backpacks or gym bags, so the locker is the ideal storage unit. Wu-Corts hopes that people continue to value their lockers “It’s the only place I can really store my bag, so it would kind of suck if they took the lockers away.”

 

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