At Hauppauge High School, the students’ voices need to be heard. Since all of our institutional decisions are made by people higher on the flagpole, we don’t typically have a say in what goes and what doesn’t; and on implementing new rules. Since we can’t make our own decisions regarding the school, we made an imaginary school where you could change one thing in our school. I traveled throughout the depths of the school to figure out the answers students had to the question, “If you had a magic wand and could change anything about the school, what would be the number one change you would make and why?”.

Physical Changes

Some of our students have vast imaginations when it comes to making changes to the way our school looks. There are no limits to creativity, and our students know how to express themselves through it. Everyone perceives their environment and our incredible planet in their own ways. Our students perceive our school as a place where they can express their creativity in a multitude of ways. One of our students, Jen Dove, said she would like to replace all of the staircases with escalators! How cool would that be? It would save us a lot of time because then students wouldn’t have to find an up or down staircase, and the escalators can go both ways while still keeping everyone 6 feet or so apart. Another source that preferred to stay anonymous said that they would change our lunchrooms around because lunch periods are too dull now, and lunch isn’t the same as it used to be.

Behavioral Changes Of Students and Staff

One may never entirely like anything in life that isn’t under their control. For instance, students at our school have some changes they would make based on how our peers and staff behave and take a course of action. There was a commonality among the responses, including anonymous sources’ desire for less prejudice in the school. An answer that also goes along with this theme is a response from Alexa Fastag, which says, “I would change all of the people that like to degrade other people for how they look, dress, their sexuality, what they do, their interests, and who they hang out with.”. Now that we’ve established some opinions on the students, here is a heartfelt passage written by Matthew Viskewich, “Honestly, one thing that needs to be changed is how our school handles and monitors mental health. Mental health in high school is one of the most critical aspects because it controls hundreds of students’ minds. I feel the school is doing an excellent job so far, but we should do more close monitoring. Still, mental health evaluations for a portion of the school. A place where you can just write down your thoughts or what’s on so you can quickly get what’s on your mind off things. Have these writings sent through a proper evaluation done by a mental health professional, and find out who needs help. In today’s world, there isn’t enough listening to each other anymore; we all go through our lives, often unknowing how others feel on the inside. People feel alone even with people around them because they can’t express certain emotions to a person one on one. I think a new system like this would implement a much safer and much more peaceful school. High school is filled with emotions, good and bad. Let’s take the proper steps to show students and teachers alike how to manage and deal with the ongoing stresses of their school, personal, and social lifestyle.”.

Rule Changes

With COVID-19, our school rules have been changing left and right. If you think about it, these rules are in place for a reason. Some of the regulations in place keep us safe daily. Emily Kelly said, “I would want to have one day every week off, either a Wednesday or a Friday, so that we have some more time to relax.  Also, making changes to the IB program, but that only affects some students, but having the day off would be much better and something to benefit all students. Stevie Donna Rosenfeld’s response to this question was that she would, “Make it easier to get info on clubs because there are so few announcements that it makes it difficult to get information.”  These ideas are very bright, and hopefully, someday, they are taken into account by the school district. Speaking of rules that keep us safe, Savannah Brown’s wish for the school is not to wear masks anymore. At the time, we probably all have similar desires to Savannah’s. It has been a very long year, and it seems as though it’s never going to end. This year has been one thing after another, and everyone needs a break.