Philosophy teacher Evan Rosenthal recently had his students identify a problem and come up with a feasible solution for it.

This inspired CHS seniors Maddie Beller, WeiAnne Reidy, and Kalina Simeonova to create CRAP (Courtyard Renovation Arts Project).

“Our proposal to administration is to reopen the courtyards for lunchtime and sometimes for after school use,” Reidy said.

According to Rosenthal, this assignment is designed to allow students to make their opinion known and realize that their voice can actually make an impact on their school environment.

“It just so happens that this [CRAP] is something we could actually do and implement here at school,” Rosenthal said.

For Reidy, CRAP is something personal to her that she has wanted to implement long before this class project.

“Now that it’s a possibility that it [CRAP] could work, I’m pushing even harder to make it my lasting impression on making CHS a more spirited school,” Reidy said.

Beller, Reidy, and Simeonova surveyed students to see what they thought about CRAP and are speaking with teachers to hear what they thought about the project’s effects in addition to anything they could possibly do to improve it.

“Our goal is to increase school spirit in a way that everyone can participate,” Simeonova said.  “Not only does opening the courtyards give us more lunch space, but it’s a good place for events that can foster positivity in our student body that currently doesn’t seem very concentrated.

Rosenthal believes that one reason why students do not currently have access to the courtyards is that they used to leave the courtyards without throwing away any garbage that they left behind when they previously had access.

However, Rosenthal still supports the efforts of Beller, Reidy, and Simeonova because he thinks that they genuinely care about the CHS environment and want to implement their ideas.

“I really support this project because it’s all about making the school a better place to be,” Rosenthal said.  “Not so much somewhere kids dread to go, but somewhere they’re actually excited to be.”

According to Simeonova, if CHS administrators accept their proposal, she and the other students involved will try to make courtyard cleaning and maintenance a project in which students can earn SSL hours.

“I think that if our students truly want to love CHS, the courtyards will potentially be a great place for them to use as a gathering spot for all aspects of our school’s community,” Simeonova said.