Over the past couple of weeks the elevator at school has been out of order, whether it’s not working, making weird noises, the lights going out, or workmen trying (and failing) to fix it. This may not seem like a big deal to the students who use the stairs, most may not even know we had an elevator. This, however, is a big deal to me since I am a wheelchair user. The elevator is the main way I get to my classes upstairs. Without the elevator I would miss out on my classes and end up sitting in the library, alone, for most of the day. This may not seem like a big deal to many, others might actually enjoy it, but for me, I miss out on learning and having the teacher explain things I need to know for upcoming tests or assignments. I also miss getting to talk to my friends and having someone to help me when I need it.

Over the summer, the maintenance staff had “fixed” the elevator by replacing the insides, the parts that run the elevator. As well as replacing the inside lights and light fixture, which was dirty and really gross to look at. They even added new buttons and a little light that tells you which floor the elevator is on if you are needing to ride it. As far as anyone in the guidance office knows no one is sure what exactly is wrong with the elevator, especially since it was just replaced.

Throughout this school year the elevator has been broken sometimes when I’ve gotten to school.  On Wednesday, December 2, I came into school and the elevator was broken again. By the end of first period they supposedly had it “fixed” and working, so I could go upstairs for my classes. When I left second period to come back downstairs, it had stopped working completely and started making these Darth Vader-esque noises. I went to a nearby teacher and had her call the office, where they informed her that it was a good thing we went to her because they thought that I was stuck in the elevator and they were trying to get me out. I was then told to just hang out upstairs until they figured something out. At the beginning of what was third period, Mr. Wix came and found me and told me not to panic and that they were going to get me downstairs one way or another.The only thing they were worried about was getting me downstairs and once I was down there, I would have to stay for the rest of the day. To get me down we used the Evac-chair, this would typically be used if there was ever a fire while I was upstairs. Mr. Foust, Mr. Hazard, Mr. Jaggers, Mr. Wix, Officer Rich, and the school nurse were all there to assist since they were the ones in the school who were trained to use it. I got into the Evac-chair and and we slid down the stairs on the visitors side of the gym. Once to the bottom, they told me that this was all of their first times taking an actual student down in the chair and that before me they had only taken each other or other faculty members down and they weren’t afraid to dump them out of the chair if it came down to it. Thinking back on it now, it actually wasn’t as scary as it seemed to be it was really kind of fun even if it was a last resort option.

The problem with this, though, is that I shouldn’t have to come to school worrying about if the elevator was going to work or if I would be stuck in the library for most of my classes again. This problem should and needs to be fixed permanently to where it doesn’t happen again. The “new” elevator is causing more problems than the old, wore down one caused.