The basketball gym is a popular destination for students to take a break from the constant stress of the academic day. Whether during break, free periods, office hours, or lunch, students line up to play recreational games to be active while socializing. When asking students throughout our community about different problems they would like to bring attention to, one apparent issue was the intermittent closing of the gym. Gym access has been taken away from students during certain phases throughout the year due to rule breaking. There is a strict no food or drink policy throughout athletic facilities at the school, but there were multiple instances of students getting told not to bring their snacks into the gym. On top of that, there was a large amount of trash left in the gym that staff had to clean up.

 One sophomore explained, “It’s disappointing how a few students ruined the activities for everybody.” While the gym is currently open, the consequence of not following the rules still stands. A freshman expressed a differing view: “It’s not fair for us all to lose the privilege if only some are breaking the rules. The ability to use the gym should only be taken from those who get caught eating in the room.” Overall, we can all agree that it is unfair and selfish to break the rules and ruin a fun activity for all students.

Whether we think the staff is handling the rule-breaking correctly or not, we can work together as a class to follow the directions and keep the opportunity to use the gym for everyone. It is not okay to leave the staff to clean up; they already have enough work assisting students every day. The school year is almost over, and with it being senior week, the annual junior-sophomore basketball game will be on Thursday, as well as the last town meeting of the year. Let’s work together to respect the rules and support our classmates as we continue spreading Flint Hill spirit for what is left of the school year.