A plague that has impacted both students and teachers is the widespread lack of nearby parking as the new parking garage has begun construction. In the meantime, some students and teachers have needed to resort to taking drastic measures such as parking a near half-a-mile away in the H-Lot or Petco.

For those approaching from the north, the path to the school was made significantly easier by walking into the cafeteria entrance instead of having to go across the football field and then the student entrance, which makes the walk nearly three times as long. However, entering through the cafeteria is no longer an option since construction on the new parking lot began. This effect can be compounded during cold weather. Many students find this to be the worst problem students with far away parking spaces have to deal with.

With the parking shake-up that has engulfed the community in the past couple of months, many students who live fairly close to the school and would have otherwise driven decided to simply walk. The distance from their car to the student entrance has become almost as long as the one from their house to the school. The student that started this practice is junior Bo Crawford.

“Yeah, once they moved my car I felt there was no use,” Crawford said.

Many students have begun to use Crawford’s method, as not every student was able to secure a parking space for themselves this year. Unfortunately, there has not always been an ample supply, let alone a surplus, of available parking spaces. This, on top of the current parking space drought and the fact that not every student can secure a parking space at the start of the school year, is creating a lot of frustration.

Thankfully, the new parking garage is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the 2018-19 school year. It will provide a far more accommodating nature for student and teacher drivers alike due to its increased parking space (including ones underground) and its proximity to the school cafeteria. Hopefully this will provide a cure for the schoolwide headache that parking has become and allow students and teachers to have a satisfying parking spot within a close proximity to the school.