The ever changing weather has taken everyone by surprise, including the air conditioning units throughout the school. On the coldest of days, all students want in the morning is to be warmed up as they enter WCHS doors after walking in the cold. Instead, they are greeted with immense amounts of heat accompanied by the stench of body odor.

“My first step into school in the mornings makes me nauseous,” junior Cat Gilligan said. “It is so evident that everyone is overheating and sweating, and it makes me so uncomfortable.”

Although we are fortunate to have functioning air conditioning and heating units, many students and teachers believe that the school must be kept at a reasonable temperature so that students have a comfortable environment in which they can learn and focus on their education.

“My classroom is warm on most days; even when it is cold out, I have to open the windows,” english teacher Shelley Perrett said.

As the weather outside gets colder, students and teachers have to dress for the outside temperature. In doing so, they get too hot when the building’s heat is cranked on. Inevitably, students get very uncomfortably warm.

“I wish the school would adjust the thermostat more to accommodate the outside temperature,” junior Maanika Gupta said. 

The issues with temperature regulation end up turning WCHS into a lousy learning environment for many, as they have a difficult time focusing. When students can only focus on how hot they are, it takes away from the attention that should be on their teachers and the lesson. 

“Kids do seem very focused on the temperature because they are uncomfortable,” Perrett said.

During the winter, it is common for students and teachers to get sick due to the subzero temperatures we experience when outside. 

According to a July 2017 Healthfully article germs are more active when in warmer temperatures, despite the myth that you get sick from the cold. The article explains that the commonality of illness spreading in the winter is attributable to large amounts of people congregating in warm buildings. 

While students wait for their bus at the bus stop or walk to school, they must be bundled up in multiple layers, especially during the upcoming months. If they were to do so, however, it would cause them to overheat in school, and not allow them to focus on important information being taught to them.

“It is too much for me to wear a winter coat along with a sweater in school” Gilligan said. “I never know what to wear anymore because now I have to dress for the weather in and out of school.”

It would be beneficial to most students if WCHS were able to fix the temperature throughout the school to make it a more comfortable place. It is tough to go from a freezing classroom to a scorching one and still be comfortable in your clothes. Many students find it extremely bothersome having to dress so differently for their school days.

“I hate how I have to wear my summer clothing beneath my sweatshirt, and how I have to carry around a jacket all day,” Gilligan said. “It makes it so difficult to get dressed in the morning, as though it weren’t hard enough already with the crazy day to day changes in weather.”