Students walk past a construction crane outside the 700 building. Mrs. Nichols (FAC), whose room is right next to the crane, has had to stop class to wait for the noise to lower to continue her lessons. “It’s hard to keep up your train of thought when it’s right above your head,” Nichols shared. Photo by A. Wallis.

   In the past few weeks, the halls and classrooms have been filled with the sounds of outside construction. While it is not confirmed, the construction is to fix long standing issues with roof leaks. The classrooms that have to go through with the amount of noise have to stop instruction and wait for the loud commotion to stop. Students and teachers alike are frustrated with the distraction. 

   Samantha Timmons (‘24) finds the sounds annoying and says that it  makes it hard to focus in her classes. 

   “It’s been really annoying and hard to concentrate. It’s just loud banging constantly,” Timmons said. “You know, I’m trying to read, but I can’t read with the thumping in my head.”

   Another person who had his classes disrupted was Alejandro Acosta (‘25) who has had multiple of his classes disrupted by the repairs.

   “I want to say only my third period and my sixth for sure,” Acosta said. 

   Acosta also sees the noise as a barrier to focusing on his work in his classes. 

   “I mean, it’s constant with little to no breaks at all. It’s very constant and disruptive,” Acosta said. 

   Students also see how the sounds affect the teachers in the classrooms. The commotion causes the teachers to stop instruction and wait until the sound is manageable. With exams coming soon, teachers need the remaining time to give out the material as soon as possible while they still have time. 

   Acosta sympathizes with the teacher who has to deal with the cacophony. 

   “They find it really bothersome and annoying. It makes it hard to teach,” Acosta said. 

   Timmons feels the same and sees her teacher’s frustrations with the amount of inferences in the class.  

   “They’re not fond of it either. Mrs. Nichols complains about it all the time.” Timmons said. 

   The people who are effected the most are the teachers whos classrooms are with right next to the construction zones. These classes get the brunt of the noise and have to pause class time to wait for them to lower.

   Mrs. Nichols’s (FAC) classroom is in  the 700’s building  and  has had to deal with the construction next to her room for multiple classes. 

    “The people laugh at the ridiculousness of it,” Nichols said. “We’re trying to have class and do our job as teachers, but yet we always get these random interruptions that take away from that.” 

   Students should expect the disruptions to slow as construction comes to a close.