On Monday, Oct. 22, Michel Baker, a computer science teacher at WCHS, walked into his classroom only to discover the entire room flooded.

This is the result of a pipe burst in the computer science hallway. All of the classrooms were affected by the water.

“The room had a lot of water on the floor, several inches,” Baker said. “Lots of ceiling tiles were on the floor and in very little pieces as the water had broken them up. The rooms were all slanted, so the water pooled in a corner of each of the rooms. The drywall used on the walls needs to get replaced to make sure it doesn’t get moldy from the water.”

Almost every computer science teacher had to change classrooms for the following week and possibly longer. Many of them are now in the media center or upstairs classrooms.

“I have three periods in the media center,” AP Computer Science Principles and Foundations of Computer Science teacher Marla Rudnick said.  “I also have two classes in two of the testing rooms. Luckily, most of the work we need to complete in class can be accessed on either chromebooks or desktops. ”

According to the computer science teachers, there are both upsides and downsides to the switch. Along with the obvious inconvenience of having to switch their classrooms, the flooding raises other issues.

“I have to take everything with me,” Baker said. “So I carry my coat, and all my supplies for my classes all day long.”

According to Rudnick, the move has definitely had benefits as well, as the normal computer science classrooms are windowless and usually dark.

“I am enjoying the sunshine and big windows on the second floor,” Rudnick said.

CHS has been in touch with an external contractor to help fix the burst pipe and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

The school estimates that the teachers should be back in their rooms in one to two weeks, however, this could take much longer if the computers are damaged. WCHS sent the computers to be checked out by an outside company and does not know yet whether there is any water damage to the computers.

According to Rudnick and Baker, WCHS has been incredibly helpful and flexible with helping to fix the problem.

“Ms. Burroughs and Ms. Gassaway helped us find rooms to teach in for Monday,” Rudnick said. “Ms. Heckert and Mr. Lowe were also there to help us through the process of getting all we needed from the classroom until they could be fixed.