By: Eloise Pizelle
After just a short stroll down any of Oak Creek High School’s halls, you’ll notice something peculiar: very few bright blue lockers have locks on them. Thieves reading this can put their ski masks away, though, because most of these lockers are empty.
The main problem is the size of the school and the location of many student’s lockers. Passing periods during block are only 7 minutes; this is longer than they’ve ever been, but not long enough. Students simply don’t have time to go to the other side of the school to access lockers.
Maya Angiolo, a junior this year, agrees saying, “I don’t use mine because it’s too far from the classes I have.”
“My car is more practical to put my stuff in, it’s closer,” said Mallory Arnold, a senior this year at Oak Creek.
Some people don’t use their locker simply because they have enough space in their bag to put all their stuff in.
All students are assigned to a locker, but students choose whether or not they use them.
“There are about 2,100 lockers located on all three floors. We have over 1,600 student’s in the 10-12 building,” said Robbin Gregorek, who works in the high school attendance office.
Even factoring the 500 locker surplus, the halls are stunningly bare of locks.
Conversely, some people do get some use out of their lockers, although not in the traditional way.
“I use mine because I don’t want to wear my lunch box all day,” said senior Sam Steffes. She also has her makeup if she needs it during the day.
Mainly athletes use the lockers. It isn’t practical for them to carry their belongings throughout the day, whatever the sport.
“It is convenient,” Bella Kornack, a senior, comments. “I don’t want to wear my tennis racket with me when I am in class.”
A possible solution would be to allow students to choose their locker placement. If students have a locker with an ideal location, they may use them more.
Sword and Shield 