School is hard, there is no argument to the contrary. Whether it be in the academic or social aspect, every student struggles in some fashion. Helping to ease that struggle is an important part of the faculty’s job, and yes, certain things are unavoidable, but that just makes fixing the things that can be changed that much more important. Some flaws or breaks may require large scale change, but others are very remote, and should be a simple, quick fix.

• A broken bathroom
• No available drinking water

 Sentinel’s 500 building has both of these problems. Most of the time, these things wouldn’t be that big  of a deal, but when they occur in an isolated place like the 500 building, things become more difficult. No water source and a single stall for the girls bathroom is a major inconvenience for most of the staff and students who have classes in the 500 building.

On its own, the isolation of the space isn’t that bad, and most of the teachers in the building are amazing. The distance can be hard to manage, but it isn’t the end of the world. Being on time can cause trouble, as it is far enough from some classes that chronic tardiness is definitely a thing some students can struggle with. Constantly being late isn’t that big of a deal as long as the teachers are aware of the cause and the student does their best to arrive punctually. The issue lies in the fact that a five minute passing period is not enough time for students to walk from the far end of the school all the way to the 500 building and stop to refill a water bottle or go to the bathroom. Since the building isn’t a part of the main school it needs to have access to both of those basic amenities, without them, students’ lives are made that much more difficult. The thing is, that access is not there. 

No water for one class, 55 minutes, doesn’t seem like much of an issue, however when students have multiple back-to-back classes in the 500 building it can become an issue. Almost two hours with nothing to drink can be difficult or even harmful. Sometimes, that two hours can become four because of block days, and that can be hard for certain students to handle.

The bathrooms aren’t as much of an issue, but it is still a problem. Prolonged periods of time without using the bathroom is very bad for students’ health. Using the bathroom is a basic necessity, and having such limited stalls makes students’ lives harder. Discomfort due to not being able to access a bathroom can make it harder to concentrate on the lesson at hand.
The 500 building needs to have these basic needs installed and improved so that students can have just one less struggle in their day to day school life.