by Isaiah Gatton and Elijah Lahrman
New room signs have been installed throughout the school to make room numbers more visible and easier to identify. While the changes are intended to improve school safety, some have concerns about the timing of the transition and the confusion caused by the new numbering system.
Math teacher Steven Skees said he supports the idea of making room numbers more visible, but believes the school should have waited until the end of the school year to introduce the changes.
“I think it is kind of good to have signs like that, more visible and everything like that,” Skees said. “But I feel like they probably should have waited until the end of the school year, so there’s less confusion about who’s going where.”
Skees said he has only had one person come to him because of confusion over the room numbers. Although he has not experienced widespread problems, he said displaying two different room numbers can work against the goal of improving safety.
“When you have two numbers on the room, I think that actually does the opposite of what they were intending,” Skees said.
Despite his concerns, Skees said students and staff will generally adjust to the changes. He said he expects the transition to work out fine as people become more familiar with the new numbering system.
Similar to Skees, sophomore Logan Vidt agreed that the new signs not matching the old signs has been a weird adjustment for him, especially for older students. However, he added that the new signs will help future incoming freshmen.
“I think it is harder to navigate since they don’t match because of what I’m used to; it was easier last year,” Vidt said.
Vidt sees the traditional way of looking for the room number as easier to navigate through the school because he did it all last year. However, he also sees the potential benefit of the signs for incoming freshmen, who will not have to fully walk in front of a door just to find the room number.
Safety supervisor Brian Mitchell explained that the function of the new signs will be helpful in case of emergencies and help newer students navigate throughout the school.
“The new signs implement safety for mainly first responders,” he said. “It’s designed that each number is color-coded to its own. It matches the exterior door in that area, so anything in the gray that you see, everything on the exterior door, their numbers will be gray, so if they have an emergency they know that it’s in a gray area and any exterior door with the gray color, they know they’re in the right area in the building.”
Mitchell also said all the signs are reflective, allowing first responders to shine a light down the area and see the signs, as well as the exterior numbering outside the doors, which leads to a quicker response to emergencies.
“When you’re giving direction and telling someone an actual number, versus maybe just saying the bathroom by the staircase, some people might not know that, but if you give an actual number, it’s more helpful,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also explained that the new signs are being implemented throughout all the schools in the area, causing the company to have to install them at the inconvenient time of the beginning of the school year.
“Well, the reasoning behind that is that the company we are working with is out of Michigan.They actually make the signs themselves. They have a time schedule because we are doing the entire district, and if there are any problems with any of the signs, they have to remake them,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell explained that the new signs will help students and visitor with navigating the large building.
“It will help people,” said Mitchell. “I think it will be easier for incoming freshmen or someone who doesn’t know the building because there is also a map in the front of the school that shows where you’re at in the building. I think for someone who doesn’t know it will help them.”
