When students arrived for the fall semester, they likely noticed that there was a major change in Grayslake Central’s school building. Over the summer, various soft seating locations that were scattered around the school in years prior had been moved into a few, direct locations. The cafeteria annex was once filled with circular tables and basic stools. Now, it has changed to hold varying types of chairs and tables, both big and small, as well as various sized couches, giving it a homey feel. The outside of the school counselors’ offices, once lined with old lockers, now has couches and small tables fitted into those same spots. However, many students are left wondering why these changes were made.
According to Central’s associate principal Mike Przybylski, some major reasons for these changes were to keep kids centralized in one area as well as to cut down on the potential disruptions to the educational environment. In previous years, some faculty had noticed that there were large amounts of students walking around the school at random, and in some cases, there were students being too loud for nearby classes to focus. For teachers with classes that were near soft seating areas, it was oftentimes difficult for them and their students to focus on the material being taught. Thus, the soft seating was moved and put into the annex, as well as by the school counselors’ offices with a few additions to the school’s Learning and Resource Center. “I think [teachers are] enjoying [the change] due to the fact that it’s less loud inside those hallways. Less loud means a better chance to not be distracted inside the classrooms,” said Mr. Przybylski. “I think it’s a win win.”
While most teachers and faculty members are enjoying this change in setup, the student body has other opinions. Many sophomores and upperclassmen that remember the soft seating arrangements of previous years are feeling the impact of this change. Some students find it difficult because they feel like there are not as many places to sit around the school as there were in years prior.
Christian Sanchez, a junior at Grayslake Central said “As of right now, I’m not really into [the new soft seating arrangements] because there’s not a lot of spaces that you can actually go to sit.” “There definitely should be more soft seating [around the school].”
Caylee Alvarez, another junior, had a similar opinion. “I don’t like [the change]. Everything is all in one room instead of scattered around the school, so everyone comes into [the annex] and it gets loud.”
Another criticism among students is the fact that the annex can get loud, making it difficult to get schoolwork done. Over the summer, the school added a “game area” in the annex, where students can play air hockey, foosball, and mini basketball. While some students are enjoying the opportunity to play games with friends during free periods, other students find the games distracting. It can be difficult to finish homework in the annex when other students are in a heated match of air hockey next to you. Furthermore, as students don’t have as many places around the school to sit in during free periods, they tend to congregate in the annex. While this was Mr. Przybylski and the administrators’ intention to keep students out of the halls, when there are many students in the annex together, some students personally believe that all the noise can get very distracting.
However, students can rest easy knowing that the problem likely won’t continue forever. Mr. Przybylski has said that the administrators are “always trying to figure out where [more soft seating can be added].” It can be difficult to find places to put soft seating, due to the way the school has been constructed. However, Mr. Przybylski is hopeful that more changes can be made to the school that add the seating spaces students desire, but also respect the needs of teachers and their classes.
“School is hard enough the way it is, and being able to have some centralized soft seating areas for [students] to chill, get work done, or eat lunch [is] a nice touch that a lot of high schools are going towards now.” said Mr. Prysybylski.
