My Slice of Paradise.

Hanna Stewart

PJ Cummings (Left) and Cooper Urban (Right) standing next to their newly acquired lockers.

Long story short- it feels like liberty. A feeling akin to raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi.

One of the most underutilized aspects of the public school system, lockers have been seemingly lost to time. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of lockers became extinct due to concerns over unnecessary risk of the disease spreading. Since then, the use of lockers has been consolidated to only people stowing overnight bags or sports bags.

However, lockers have a myriad of benefits which have been overlooked for some time. For one, if your back has ever felt sore or compressed, it is likely due to your backpack. Think about it: lugging around dozens of pounds of books and assignments on your back every day is bound to cause trouble. I can say from experience that my back issues have heavily subsided since picking up a locker for myself. Secondly, it saves room in class. Some classes are pretty cramped – with 30+ kids in one classroom. In these rooms, space is a very hot commodity. And something that takes up a lot of space in these cramped rooms is just that – backpacks. Finally, it allows people to have more mobility around school. Think about being in class ever time that the bell rings – every student has to pack up every single book and folder that they have before leaving for their next class. When you only have the necessities, you are able to pack up to leave in an instant, allowing for much more mobility and efficiency in commuting between classes.

If you are interested in getting a locker – email Mrs. Biehl: [email protected]