Author: Luke Ren
It might just be that I am a spoiled Californian, or it might just be that I am overreacting, but we have a serious drainage problem at MHS. The number of times I have accidentally stepped in an atrocious, petrifying puddle of terror simply because of the poor drainage at this school is more than the number of times I have been jabbed at by a low-hanging umbrella. Each puddle of calamity awaits an unsuspecting victim just to ruin their clothes, smite their warmth, and destroy their mood for the day.
Although this seems like a minor issue, if the problem persists, there could be major consequences. I am not talking about unfortunate students drowning in tiny puddles on the ground, but rather the potential for major flooding on campus. I know it is impractical to assume that a flood would consume MHS, but if the storm that liquified MHS in January can strike once, it can definitely strike twice.
I want to make sure that our school is equipped to handle such a situation so that the safety of each student and staff member is in good hands. There are no perfect solutions to this issue, but there are definitely some that can be considered.
The most obvious answer to this dilemma would be to insert drains in every concavity in the ground that tends to spawn aquatic disasters, but this would obviously cost tens of thousands of dollars on constructing and reconstructing the already ancient sewer system. My question is, why were there not drains installed in the first place?
When designing an outdoor school, with extra emphasis on outdoor, one should consider the possibility of rain and how it must be dealt with. Otherwise, a case such as ours prevails where miniature lakes close off portions of an already stuffed campus until finally being returned to the natural water cycle after days.
Stuffy walkways and shallow umbrellas will be the least of the problems once property damage becomes an issue. Little by little, bit by bit, the rain will erode the already uneven ground and eradicate any forms of plant life that keep MHS green and beautiful.
If there are drains and I merely have not noticed them, then that is a whole other issue entirely. It is scary that our drainage system is not working at its highest capabilities, but it is even scarier to think that our administration has not worked to refurbish this system. I only hope that this is not the case.
The other solution to ending the heinous ponds of dread is possibly more impractical and definitely more costly, and it is to redo the landscaping of the school. Filling up random potholes and depressions in the ground that are ready to become traps for innocent souls would take huge amounts of time and money and is likely never to happen, but it would go beyond just fixing the drainage issue.
I think it is essential that all students and staff should take good care of our campus. Our campus is what ties us to the students and staff that have come before us and the students and staff that will continue our legacy.