On Wednesday, November 16, a group of Journalism students went to different areas of the school. Their mission was to observe the area for 10 minutes and write about what they saw. Here are the accounts from those students. Collectively they created an illustration of what happens at WHS in a given 10 minute period.

At 9 am the cafeteria is not a lunch room, but a study hall. Three people sit at the lunch table giggling at each other. They are discussing sports and other random things. One of them wears a Duke Blue Devils jersey and he is paying close attention to the TV because ESPN is on. A boy sits by himself drawing comic book characters. Another boy sits by himself studying and trying to stay focused on his work. Nobody appeared to be in ISS. Several sat at one table in the very back. –Calen Dexter

Three students sit and wait to talk to an administrator, their scared and upset faces fill the room. Two worried kids are taken for questioning at 9 am Wednesday morning. Ms. Kimmett escorts them into her office. One girl remains for questioning with a blushed face and watery eyes. Mrs. Hall sits at her desk waiting for calls and late students to arrive. Mrs. McNorton leaves the office on a mission, with quick hellos. The silence of the main office was almost deafening. The only sound that could be heard was the whispers of the students in trouble and the quaint sound of Ms. Hall typing. –Hannah Dillard

The art hall on the first floor is a lonely place to be at 9 am. Only a few teachers and one or two students pass down that way, leaving it wide open. But it’s certainly not a quiet place to be. Teachers down the hall yell assignments to their students, and a group of about nine kids gather around the corner near Mr. Krzastek’s room to observe a push-up contest between before Coach Cox breaks it up. Everyone scatters, but none head down to the art hall. Mrs. Kimmett leaves Guidance to return to her office, and she is the last person on the hall for five minutes afterward.–Emma Parolisi

Few students are on the second floor hallway at 9 am. One boy sits on the floor working, the other just quietly making their way down the hallway. Mr. Sati comes out of his classroom and his shoes squeak against the floor. Talking and coughing repeatedly echoes from Mr. Tyler’s classroom. A girl climbs slowly up the stairs, stops to look in her purse, and then continues walking. Another girl exits her class; she walks to her locker and slams it when she is done searching through it. A third girl walks down the hallway with a late pass and enters the World History room. The boy in the hallway who was working is now lying down on the hard floor. A bunch of students from one class all spill into the hallway. They are getting drinks of water and chatting with each other. Ms. Rudolph comes out and says, “One more minute.” A boy from Mr. Tyler’s room comes out of the classroom and sits by the door and moans loudly out of anger. All the students who were on break go back into their classroom.
–Kay Spencer

The freshman side of the third floor hallway is a quiet place. In one room, two teachers are talking about their days and how they are planning for their next classes. Students are taking tests in another room and other students are making jokes and being loud with their friends in another. One male student is working on assignments from his class, trying to focus. Suddenly someone walks out of their classroom and playfully punches him as he calls out for help. Ms. Biggs walks out of her room, standing with attitude. “That’s it, go sit down,” said Biggs. The student replies, “What the heck?” At the other end of the hallway chemistry and biology classes are focusing on their work, individually or in groups.
–Brentley Carter

You know the saying, “So quiet you can hear a pin drop”? That’s how it felt in the library. All around is silence, with the exception of the librarians gossiping in the front of the room. Students wander aimlessly, read or try to cram for next period’s test. In the back of the library a few teachers walk into the copy room and come out with what looks like a hundred copies, big posters and text books. Even with so much movement in the room everything is still quiet and serene. –Angela Rossi