This week, Science Club is hosting “Go Green Week” with different events every day of the week to promote environmentally aware habits. It has not been simple; just weeks ago, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the projected activities.
It all started with a tweet published by Melody Boyles, a member of Science Club. It read:
“The reason why I made the tweet was because he [Dr. Szlanda] did not specify what the safety reason was. It could of been the duct tape or it could of been the pep rally. I found it interesting that if it was because of the pep rally, we literally ended up having a pep rally a few days later which I found ironic, so I made a joke about it,” Boyles said.
Science club students did a lot of brainstorming to find events that would be engaging to the majority of students at HHS.
“We were going to raise the money to duct tape a teacher to the wall, something similar to an event we did in middle school,” she continues, “We were going to raise the money for the food pantry here at Hastings High School,” Angela Vu, president of Science Club, said.
This event was denied by principal Dr. Tom Szlanda.
“As far as duct taping a teacher or administrator, I look at that as a safety and security issue. If something were to occur during the assembly that needed one of those people’s assistance and they are duct taped, that is not a very safe situation which doesn’t lead to a safe and orderly learning environment, which is what we want for all our students and staff,” Szlanda said.
Vu also had an Oreo Sweepstakes proposed. It is a competition between T3’s where students are given trivia questions to answer. Once the student finds the answer, it is given in form of a phone number. The first T3 to call in wins a package of oreos.
“[Dr. Szlanda] said that the intercoms in the school aren’t very good,” Vu said. “[Dr. Szlanda] also said he did not want people running in the hallways, even though you call in on the phone,” Vu said.
Between people, miscommunication occurred.
“All I knew that it was a safety issue, I did not know whether it was a safety issue because of the duct taping or because of getting people in for a pep rally,” Boyles continued. “It was interesting because if it was because of the duct tape, we could of easily came up with other ideas, he just said no,” Boyles said.
Szlanda explained that T3, a 45 minute block every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, is designed as an intervention time for academics and the reward of a pack of oreos goes against the policies put in place.
“Bringing food into the classroom is what we do not allow. These are our policies, no food or drink in the classroom, except water. Then, I get be the judge and say whether this activity or event is a safe and orderly activity that leads to a safe and orderly learning environment,” Szlanda said.
Hastings Middle School tapped a number of teachers to the wall. Doug Sejkora, Pat Chick, and Raleigh White are just a few examples.
“I cannot speak on what happened or what decisions were made in middle school, I can only speak on behalf of what happens here at Hastings Senior High School,” Szlanda said.
Students understand that safety is a concern of Szlanda’s.
“Maybe when he includes the entire school, he is more strict because he is concerned about our safety, even though we have done these events before in middle school,” Boyles said.
Even though Science Club is unable to do these two proposed fundraisers for Go Green week, they have been able to go and attend other things throughout the year.
“It is important to note that Szlanda lets us go on field trips where ever we want, and he is very relaxed about that,” Vu said.
A couple of Hastings High students took to twitter to share an opposed opinion. One of those students was sophomore JT Cafferty. Cafferty tweeted in response to Boyles’s tweet:
“I am not so much against it (Pep Rally/ Assembly) as more as to state my reason for why it didn’t happen. It was more of a reason that the school would rather promote something that makes money for them than something that didn’t,” Cafferty said.
Cafferty furthers explains why he thinks the event did not go through.
“I am not against Go Green Week, I am just trying to educate…I am trying to give it from the administrators perspective. Go Green Week probably isn’t on the top of their priority list,” Cafferty said.
Boyles agreed to disagree with the opinions of Cafferty.
“I got where he was coming from, but at the same time our school has raised money for other things that do not give the school a direct profit, but I appreciate that he was civilized about it,” Boyles said.
Despite the conflicts, Go Green Week is still a go.
Monday – carpooling, walking or biking to school.
Tuesday – turning the lights off to preserve energy.
Wednesday – turtle garden and park clean up and a recycling scavenger hunt.
Thursday – lunch outside in the commons and an art, photography, and poetry contest.
Friday – bringing a reusable water bottle to school and wearing the color green.
As Vu states, “We want to represent Going Green, Recycling, preserving fuel in creative ways.”
