By: Ellen L.
The thought of waking up to go to school in the morning is an unpleasant thought for allstudents , but even more so here at Western Canada high school. Students who drive to school
in the morning have to be at school an hour earlier than other students do, or if they are lucky
enough on a particular day only 45 minutes. Many students with morning spares need to arrive
at school at eight o’clock to get a parking spot when their first class does not start until ten
thirty! With only 125 student parking spots, and 400 plus parking passes in use many students
need to resort to parking in two-hour public parking. Parking in two hour either makes
students late for class, or stuck with a forty-dollar fine. “I learned just not to come to school,
because it costs me 40$ a day” says Laura in grade twelve. Just finding a two hour spot can
even be difficult some days with the huge amounts of students, and other public all fighting for
the closest spot.
Luckily, after all the complaining students have also come up with several solutions to
the dreadful parking situation “Why can’t we remove the baseball diamond and add in more
parking spaces? Considering we don’t have a baseball team and it is never in use,” says Tom in
grade twelve. Other students suggest free two hour parking for students during school hours,
but the most environmental and efficient way to help solve the parking problem for students is
carpooling. Many students drive with neighbours and friends to school, but many others drive
to and from school alone which could very easily be solved. If everyone who drove to school
had at least one other person in their car the number of cars fighting for spots would be
reduced dramatically, not to mention the money spent on gas that would be saved, and the
benefits to the environment. If everyone drove to school with just one other person the number
of people driving to school could be reduced to half which would make the mornings a lot
easier for everyone. So talk to your neighbours, friends and classmates and tell them to do the
same thing. If everyone does this then we can make a difference, and maybe even get a little
more sleep.
