Monterey Goes Back to the Beginning

By Abbie King

Senior year: it’s what we’ve been working toward these long, grueling 13 years. Imagine freedom being so close, you can taste it. Now, imagine having to experience senior year in your small, stuffy elementary school. It’s not the ideal way to spend one’s final year of high school, but it is what Monterey High School’s class of 2013 must endure. The recent discovery of asbestos, a highly flammable material, and the lack of a sprinkler system forced the seniors into Uffleman Elementary, their beginning and their end. The high school's conditions are life threatening, and a new one must be built immediately. However, the project for the new school lacks urgency in the eyes of the school board, leaving the students to feel degraded and unimportant.  

The students refuse to let this dampen their senior year. A group of students from the National Honor Society cleaned up and prepared the elementary school just before the school year began. When asked about the situation, Taylor King, a senior at Monterey High School, states, "It's not fair; it needs to change immediately, but we will make the most of it because that's what Monterey is all about. We will have a good attitude, and we won't let our hopes get down. We will still learn, it will just take more concentration and everyone banding together to make this year great."