Taking Out the Trees
Ongoing Construction Causes Deforestation-Like Effects in Langley’s Backyard
Photo by Nik Popli
As Langley enters its third renovation cycle this winter, students are more eager than ever to see the completely redesigned campus in its entirety. Less than a year ago, the school opened up its grand new entrance — a process that took over a year to complete. Earlier this year, the new math, science, and humanities hallways were also opened. Now, the school is working hard to complete the courtyard, located centrally between all of the classrooms. Many students have found this a rewarding process, but one that comes with a heavy cost.
“It’s a mess right now,” said Freshman Jed Prickett. “But it will be worth it. I’m excited to see what the school will look like when it’s done.”
For Prickett, his high school experience has not been affected by the ongoing construction. The noise and blocked hallways and zones have had minimal effects on most students during school hours. Most of the construction occurs after school and on weekends or breaks, making school a safe environment for learning.
At the same time, students have taken notice of the chopped trees in the courtyard — something similar to deforestation. “My family is very green, so it’s kind of overwhelming to see all the trees get cut down in the courtyard,” said Prickett. “It’s contained, though, not really wild. The school probably planted those trees there to begin with, so it’s not really ‘deforestation’ if you think about it, but it’s still kind of overwhelming with dead branches lying around everywhere.”
While the construction in the courtyard has not taken away from lunchtime, Senior Akshay Luthra noted, on the other hand, that “it has been very disturbing for the inside classrooms because you can see it out of every window, but this is just part of the process. It’s going to take some getting used to seeing bulldozers in our old courtyard and walls blocking off hallways, but, I mean, the old math hallway was closed for the longest time and it looks amazing now, so I think it will be worth it for the underclassmen.”
According to Principal Fred Amico, the school hopes to open the renovated courtyard to students around November 2017. For now, though, all that remains in the courtyard are caution signs and fallen trees.
