High Schoolers enjoy more dynamic study spaces

The Class of 2019's senior gift to USN included several glass boards in the library, study rooms, and coves across campus to help increase productivity and community building among younger peers.
By Harper Johnston ’21
This article was originally published in the May edition of The Peabody Press, the High School student newspaper.

The members of the Class of 2019 USN are about to graduate and attend colleges across the nation, but their impact on USN will still be apparent on campus next year.

Traditionally, every year, the senior student council spends their leftover savings on a project that is intended to benefit our community. Last year, seniors bought a new speaker system for the River Campus. This year’s gift is more study-oriented and will hopefully increase students’ productivity during free periods. By next year, students will have access to new whiteboards in the library lobby, the study rooms, outside the nurse’s office, around the sitting area on the third floor, and in the commons.

The boards will all be located in public spaces that can easily be seen by administrators, so students are not tempted to misuse the whiteboards. Rachel Becker, the senior class president, has worked very hard with her fellow officers and faculty to address any problems that the boards might cause.

“There were a lot of concerns that people would misuse the whiteboards,” said Becker, “We decided to place all the boards in public areas to solve the problem.”

Ms. Sachs, the senior class sponsor, helped the seniors fine-tune their project. She agreed that there are certain risks, but thinks that students will benefit from the new study spaces.

“The risk is that students might misuse them and write inappropriate things,” Sachs added, “The student council officers spent a lot of time and energy thinking about why the benefits outweigh the potential risks and also how to minimize that risk.”

A lot of time and thought went into perfecting this project because the senior class believes that these boards can be an advantageous tool for all USN high school students. Becker and Sachs hope that these whiteboards provide more spaces where students can study with their classmates in an interactive way.

“I hope it will make students feel like they have opportunities to easily show what they have learned and work through things together,” Sachs said.   
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    • Two of the new glass boards hang in The Bryant Alcove of Dreams and Creativity, a popular spot to socialize and study on the third floor.

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