What’s That Smell!?
Over Winter Break, an HVAC coil snapped above the 600 hallway. The hallway was flooded with about 200 gallons of water. Classrooms such as Lamb’s room and McGregor’s room were badly damaged in this flood. The hall below, the 500 hallway, had damaged classrooms as well.
Many people think that the damage to the hallway was inconvenient. One person who thought this was very inconvenient was Ms. Lamb. The teacher thinks this was a major disruption due to students not being able to learn inside the classroom. She said that students were irritated due to missing out on lab work. They had to sit in the library or in Mr. Jimenez’s classroom. She also said that students were clapping on the first day back in her classroom; however, this isn’t the end of the difficulty. Reports of the smell of fish flooding classrooms and especially certain parts of the hallway have come up. Not only that but reports of stuff falling from the ceiling have come up, saying that ceiling tiles had fallen. Ms. Lamb also said that around 20 of her students had been feeling symptoms of congestion, headaches, and a cough. These symptoms could be mold or a sickness going around Eisenhower.
“For some people, mold can cause a stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing or wheezing, burning eyes, or skin rash,” from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Many people at Eisenhower believe there is a possible mold problem in the 600th Hallway. Many students are feeling symptoms of cough, congestion, and headaches from working in the 600th hall. These problems are seemingly more prominent in classrooms that were water damaged. Mold, which grows on damp surfaces, can grow within 24-48 hours. According to the CDC, symptoms of mold usually appear 2-9 hours after exposure and last for 1-3 days.
Many teachers at Ike feel like the administration is doing everything they can to help with the situation. There are lots of moving parts within the administration to get this hallway fixed, such as purchasing new equipment and hiring people to fix the hall. They also feel like it leaves a negative impact on students since it happened at the end of the semester. One teacher that feels this way is Mr. McGregor. He said it is frustrating since teachers work really hard to create a certain classroom environment that reflects who they are and what they convey to students. And not being in his own room because of the damage messes with that.
Some people believe that this flooding was an inconvenience but are not very worried about the possibility of mold. They believe that since the 600th Hall is such a big space, mold won’t affect many people, and over time the hall will dry out and clear up.
“The 600th Hallway is an eyesore right now,” stated Mr. Deiner. Who has also said the school took safety precautions for the 600th hall by removing insulation so mold won't grow. He said in the interview how it was very unfortunate that the extreme cold froze an HVAC Coil (A part of an air conditioner or heat pump) full of water and snapped it, ultimately flooding an entire hallway with about 200 gallons of water. He would like to thank the staff and students that have been affected, and that this is another reason why Ike is such a great place; Because we can deal with the challenges presented to us and improve because of those challenges. The hallway should be completely fixed up during the mid-winter break.
