It may be hard to believe, but the four new eco-friendly Gen7 modular classrooms may be the most exciting aspect of Albany High School this year. Adjacent to the new pool site, the new rooms, designated M1, M2, M3, and M4, were ready for the start of the new year.
Some long-time teachers who were offered the modular classrooms passed up the opportunity, thinking that the construction site would be too much of a distraction for the students.
However, new staff like English teacher Jesica Park, who were given the opportunity to teach there, noticed that the construction work hasn’t been a distraction at all for students. Park also enjoys having all the freshmen English teachers out there with her, but says that it does feel isolated sometimes.
Seniors Adam Lieber and Chanel Tilghman feel similarly about the more remote location, but had good things to say about the modules nonetheless. “They’re heated, unlike classrooms in the main building, which is nice during first period,” stated Lieber.
As of this writing, the new rooms primarily house English and IHS teachers, including Robert Lent, Corine Berletti, Emily Surowitz, Mariflo Hudson, and Park.
Everyone seems to enjoy the eco-friendliness of the new classrooms, but, “We hear weird noises though, like buzzing or humming, at odd circumstances,” Tilghman noticed, “like when someone opens the door or if the air conditioning happens to be running. I like that the modules are eco-friendly, and that they have individual thermostats,” Tilghman said.
While the pool construction does not appear to be a distraction to students, it remains to be seen what a pool full of freshman swimmers will do to a thoughtful reading of The Catcher in the Rye. Perhaps a skilled teacher will be able to relate Kermit Bankson’s swimmers to Holden Caulfield’s ducks in New York’s Central park.
