When the original Gresham High School building was finished in 1914, it provided a safe place for community members to further their education. Over a century later, it is an International Baccalaureate school that is in need of major repairs.
Students here are not unfamiliar with the unsafe conditions of the school. Everyday, students come in and out of the classes, halls and building to be greeted with peeling paint, roof leaks, damaged walls, among other dangerous conditions.
“I’ve noticed the school building is a little old,” senior Brannon Hogg said. “It’s falling apart and in dire need of repair.”
They have noticed this happening for a while, however, the administration, community, and school as a whole, have not done much to help improve the school setting. This can become an extremely hazardous place for students to come to school and learn if this situation is left unfixed for too long.
Students like senior Zach Mahan and junior Luke Tate have noticed much destruction that weather has on the building. They express extreme concern about their learning environment.
“The school is sh*t,” Mahan said. “Especially when the school auditorium roof is caving in. (People) actually (need to) inform people about it.”
Each day the school conditions worsen. More leaks here, and roofs having a better potential to cave in on unsuspecting students.
Instead of spending money that is going to the school for other things, people need to know that the building is aging and that spending money on new TVs and a field will not help improve the environmental safety of the school building itself.
“Use our money more wisely,” Tate said.
Students need to put out their voice about the conditions in the school as people who are experiencing first hand the hazards in the building.
Students in the various classrooms see discolored or missing roof tiles, peeling and damaged walls and other different hazards.
“I’ve actually seen part of a wall fall off completely,” Tate said. “Stop being idiots and actually do something good.”
Ignoring the environment will lead to more and more unsafe measures popping out all over the school. Repairs need to be done, in a quickly fashion and let others know what is going on.
“I feel that we (the students) should try and bring more light to the issue instead of just shrugging it off and going with it,” Hogg said.
In the meantime, while people in the community know little about what is going on in the school that they are sending their students to, the students are living a nightmare everyday, not knowing when the school will give way on top of them.
“I want the school to know that this school has been here for at least a century,” Hogg said. “Its getting old, it’s gonna fall on our heads.”
