News
Huron builds a
rain garden
Jack Harrison | Staff Editor
In late September, Huron
became the first Ann Arbor Public
Schools high school to build a rain gar-
den.
The rain garden, undertaken
by Huron’s National Honor Society
Chapter, was proposed by Junior Pres-
ident Julie Heng, in early 2018. Heng
worked with Catie Wytychak of the
Washtenaw County Water Resources
Commissioner’s Office, Huron teacher
Nicole Lemon, and Huron Administra-
tion to design and plan the rain garden.
With the support of the Hu-
ron administration and funding from
Huron’s PTSO, the garden was com-
pleted on September, 29 between the
Band Room and Media Center.
Rain gardens provide benefit
to the environment by absorbing storm
water runoff while preventing harmful
toxins from entering the water supply.
Huron’s garden was built with two tiers
known as berms, designed to hold water
which can be filtered through the soil.
The process began on Septem-
ber 23, behind the greenhouse. In inter-
mittent rain, around 20 students dug
out two dirt terraces in the side of the
hill before covering them with compost
and mulch.
After Sara Roldan left Huron,
Lemon became the NHS Advisor. The
rain garden was one of Lemon’s first ex-
posures to an NHS volunteer event.
“It was great to see so many
students working together to add some-
thing beautiful to our campus that will
Overcrowding after school on The Ride bus
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
By ALYSSA SALAMIN | Staff WRITER
so they miss taking the 2:30 bus by six
minutes. They then have to wait 24
minutes for the 3 p.m. bus to arrive,
once it arrives, if their denied the abil-
ity to get on the bus because it is full to
capacity then they have to wait longer.
It’s an additional 30 minute wait for
the next bus which arrives at 3:30 p.m.
This is a total wait time of 54 minutes
from when students get out of school
till when they can get on the bus, in
the case that the bus is full to capaci-
ty. In addition, these students have to
wait outside because administration
doesn’t allow students to wait inside
the building after 3 p.m.
While the city bus drivers plains that once the amount of peo-
telling students they
can’t get on that bus
“
because it’s too full
makes many students
angry, it’s the poli-
cy. While there is no
We are using all the the
maximum number of resources we have and ered “full.” The bus follow the full bus protocol, other stu-
people allowed on the
bus, there is a policy are backing up the notify the people opposite. On occasion, the AATA bus
on when to tell if the buses as best we can
bus is full and how to
handle it. Manager Stasiak
of community rela-
“ stop that the bus and ignore their trained protocol.
tions at AATA Mary
Stasiak has explained
that this is part of
their policy and part of what the bus we have and are backing up the buses [waiting] were mad.”
drivers are trained to do. Stasiak ex- as best we can,” Stasiak said.
Library flooding is still having lasting impact on teachers and students at Huron
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Samantha RUUD | Staff editor
The water also made its way
into the main library, all the way past
the circulation desk. Because of this, all
the carpeting in the library had to be
replaced. However, for this to actually
happen, everything had to be taken out
of the library first.
“Everything in here had to be
moved,” Colby said. “The books had to
be taken off the shelves and then put
into boxes, the shelves and furniture
had to be moved. Then the carpet was
laid, and the shelves and books went
back.”
Putting the books back proved
to be one of the biggest struggles in the
process. The movers who were hired
were the ones who put the books back
on the shelves, but they didn’t get put
back in the correct order.
“We talked about how to
shelves the books with them and they
said they’d do their best,” Colby said.
“So we’re still working on getting every-
thing back in order.”
The library was reorganized six
years ago, where librarian Lauren War-
ren said they ran into the same prob-
lems reshelving the books. They were
still working to get all of the books back
also help the environment by absorb-
ing rainwater,” Lemon said. “The first
work day, even in pouring rain, every-
one worked hard, but still had fun with
smiles on their wet faces.”
On September 29, another
20 or so students planted and watered
native seedlings. They also sowed grass
seed to cover the rest of the slope.
NHS member junior Luke
Hurley heads the Beautification Com-
mittee. He helped construct the garden
on both days.
“Building the rain garden was
an amazing way for students to engage
in not only how their school looks, but
also how to control the environmental
impact Huron has on the surrounding
area.”
For Heng, she was proud to
see the project complete, after proposals
began in May of 2018.
“A lot of time you try to make
a difference but it isn’t practical, but
this was a project that was actually
practical to pursue while being environ-
mentally helpful,” Heng said.
This year, NHS plans to initi-
ate even further projects related to the
environment and other aspects of the
community.
The NHS Induction Ceremo-
ny for new members took place on Oc-
tober 17 at 7 p.m. in the Ingram Theater.
More photos can be found on
the newsboard located by the Finance
Offic by the main entrance.
Students enter a city bus following a school day. Photo taken by Jacob Kreamelmeyer.
ple on the bus has While the AATA is using all of its
filled up to the line, resources, there is still only one bus
which is located on that is available to come at 3 p.m. to
the floor towards Huron on route 66, leaving the buses
front of the bus, crowded. And while student accounts
the bus is consid- have confirmed that the bus drivers do
drivers must then dent accounts have confirmed quit the
waiting at the next drivers do skip stops without stopping
is at capacity and
that they can’t get skipped stops], but there was really no
on that bus.
“We are us- even want them to get on,” senior
ing all the resources Nailah Norris said. “But the people
in the correct order when the school
year started.
After the flood, everything
that had water damaged was recorded,
and the list of technology and miscella-
neous supplies was sent to the school’s
insurance company to be reimbursed
for the costs of the damaged. Colby says
she hopes to use this as an opportunity
to upgrade the video collection.
“A lot of the videos may not
need to be replaced because a lot of
2
1
3
1. Members of the Huron NHS chapter are seen working on day one. Specifically, they are digging the lower berm, which required digging eighth inches
beneath the surface. 2. Senior Maya Harrington rakes mulch after it was placed on top of the compost. 3. Junior Luke Hurley uses a machine that mixes the
composting with the dirt. 4. Catie Wytychak and Julie Heng level out the lower berm after it was dug.
“Yes [the city bus drivers have
space, so everyone on the bus didn’t
them are DVD’s and VHS’s, so they are
not in a format that we can even use
anymore,” Colby said. “Plus, a lot of
the curriculums have changed and we
have so many new teachers since the
collection has been purchased that we
might choose to buy different things.”
Colby also mentioned that
she hopes to be able to use the mon-
ey over the span of multiple years so
they are able to make purchases that
would benefit the school the most.
2
4
New furniture is in full swing
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
By Jack Harrison| Staff editor
“The spin- Do students like the new furniture
ny green stools are better than the old furniture?
fun to use when you
want to spin around.
They are like big fid-
get spinners,” seniors
Neutral Yes
Michael Rosales and
Irusha Hawagama
5% 48%
said.
D r .
Schwamb acknowl-
edged
that the furniture is
more modular, thus No
utilizing more space.
Students have had to
47%
adjust to desks be-
ing closer together 80 students a random were sampled at
and for senior Odia random in the cafeteria
Kaba, it has been dif-
ficult to do so.
“The new furniture makes the rooms very uncomfortable because of how
cramped rooms now are,” Kaba said.
However, staff were encouraged to remove unnecessary furniture in their
room.
Another adjustment are the chairs. Although they are more sturdy, some
students wish that chairs were more movable.
“The new furniture makes class discussions difficult because they do not
move very easily,” senior Basra Keynan said.
Dr. Schwamb reminded Huron staff that the furniture is not only visu-
ally appealing, but it also affords greater opportunities for student and teacher
collaboration during class time. The staff is encouraged to explore and use the new
furniture to further enhance both collaboration and the classroom learning envi-
ronment.
“If they said ‘here’s the mon-
ey, you have to spend it this year,’ that
would be unfortunate because we
would have to make very quick de-
cisions that maybe weren’t the best
choices for the school,” Colby said.
The library is still working on
getting everything back in order. New
technology has recently been delivered
to the school, and will soon be put into
use.
Left: Following the flood, the library was recar-
petted, so everything had to be removed from
the library. This caused major problems when the
books didn’t get put back on the shelves int the
correct order. Photo courtesy of Lauren Warren.
Top Right: The video collection is covered with
parts of the ceiling tiles and water. Most of the
video collection was destroyed in the flood.
Photo courtesy of Carrie Treece,
Bottom Right: All library contents including
books were placed into boxes when carpet was
replaced. Photo courtesy of Carrie Treece