RHS to expand on parking by stadium

(JORDAN DEL VALLE TONOIAN / EYE OF THE TIGER)

Above, portable 16 next to construction of the new auxiliary gym. Portables 16 through 21 will be removed in the spring semester. After the completion of the auxiliary gym, this land will be turned into parking.

DEVON DICKENS

RJUHSD will begin to recapture around 50 parking spaces after the completion of the new auxiliary gym, which is currently expected for next summer. These parking spaces will extend the senior lot parking to space that was formerly taken up by portables.

Last year, six portables were removed to create space for storage for the auxiliary gym construction. Over the next couple months, teachers in portables 16 through 21 will begin to relocate to other classrooms. These portables will then be removed so the land can be turned into parking.

This is part of a greater plan to expand RHS parking by around 120 parking spaces. After the auxiliary gym project, Roseville High School will undergo construction of a new ticket booth and stadium restroom facility. According to principal Nicholas Richter, the new ticket booth and entrance to the stadium will be just behind the auxiliary gym. The land surrounding the current ticket booth all the way down to the upperfield restrooms will be turned into parking. Spaces near the new ticket booth will be used for handicap spots.

“The thing that’s unique about us compared to all the other schools is that there was no stadium when our school was built, so it’s kind of like we’re putting pieces that don’t always match together and we have to kind of think through that,” Richter said.

According to assistant principal Jason Wilson, this year many teachers in the portables have had to relocate for construction plans to progress.

“It’s tough on teachers having to move. Moving classrooms is not fun, especially when you are able to establish an environment that you are comfortable with and you have your resources and materials and equipment,” Wilson said. “Luckily our teachers have been cooperative and understanding with the move I think because there is a benefit to students and staff in the long run.”

Social science teacher Jon Coleman is the only teacher so far to move out of the portables that are to be vacated by winter break. He was relocated from classroom P-16 to P-39, which is at the very end of the long row of portables. He said he has mixed feelings about the move.

“Honestly I’m torn. It is so far from anything. It’s a 15 minute walk to go to the bathroom… I tell [students] to get food and water, and shoot up a flare if they get lost,” Coleman said. “On the plus side, it’s nice and quiet, but it is so far from anything. I feel really bad for my kids who have to walk to a parking lot, especially if they don’t park at the student lot: it’s days. Heaven forbid if you walk to the office. It’s a quarter mile up to the office.”

Coleman’s student Charlie Paxxon finds that making the long walk to portable 39 in the passing period adds difficulty to her day.

“My first and third period classes are both in the 100’s and 200’s, so it’s very stressful for me going from class to class… it’s just really frustrating walking all the way from one end of the school to the other because there is that [six-minute] time frame. You don’t want to be late or tardy for class because that counts towards your grade as well.”

While Coleman is the only teacher of those six classrooms to move so far, some teachers in the far portables, such as P-30 and on, have had to move or give up classrooms to accommodate for the six relocated teachers. Band director and guitar teacher Michael Austin has moved out of P-30, his guitar classroom, and takes the guitar students to the band room for class instead.

Peer Helping used to use two classrooms, P-36 and P-37. Now Peer Helping only has one portable, but it is larger than either of the others. Like Coleman, Peer Helping teacher Valerie Erb and her students have mixed feelings about the move.

“It’s a big change for us. We just got in this room and we’re getting situated,” Erb said. “We were in the other room for the course of all of Peer Helping… We’re gonna put new handprints on our walls and make it our home.”

(MEHROZ AKHTAR / EYE OF THE TIGER)
Above, photos of Peer Helping in their former portable plastered on the wall of their new classroom. By winter break several teachers will relocate so the district can clear out portables to make room for parking.

Peer Helper Gabriella McGill looks forward to having a bigger classroom to do Peer Helping activities.

“It’s kinda sad that we had to leave our home class but it’s really awesome that we got a bigger room and now we have more opportunities to use this room with new games, and also doing more with freshmen, and I think it’s pretty cool,” McGill said.

Peer Helper Angelica Guerrero said the new classroom presents an opportunity for students to build new traditions and make a new classroom their home.

“I think it’s really cool that we get to like start in a fresh environment for the next – I don’t know – [Erb] had her 10 year teaching career over there in that class and that was cool,” Guerrero said. “I have a lot of memories in that class but it’s cool for the future students to have a new modern home that they can build new memories in.”