For the past (number of years) a horrible smell of unknown origins has tormented Northridge Academy. A smell that mysteriously emerges, covering swaths of the second floor, only to disappear as suddenly as it appeared. The strange scent has affected students and staff alike since it first arrived. But what is the smell, where did it originate from, and is it being fixed?
Despite only appearing for days to weeks at a time, the bad smell has made a big disruption with entire classes being forced to move location for and extended period of time. Puma Press had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Pollard (who was temporarily moved to the MPR) about her experience. When asked what challenges came with moving to the MPR, Pollard responded saying, “Not having all of the equipment, so every morning I had to take all the cameras and MacBooks down, not being able to use any of our backdrops or lighting, and kind of having to pivot a little bit was not fun”. When we asked if there were any unforeseen benefits to being in the MPR, NAHS’s photography teacher responded with a playful yet firm “no”.
Of course we cannot talk about the impact this smell has had without talking about Ms. Campbell. Ms. Campbell is arguably one of the most impacted teacher at NAHS as she hasn’t been able to return to her room for an estimated six months. “It takes a lot of man power, it took me maybe three hours to move everything with help from kids.” Campbell says. she described the hardest part of moving as being that it was “disorienting for the kids” but adapted by making this “obviously-not-used-as-a-classroom” her own, by putting up everything in her original classroom.
The horrible second floor smell has left students puzzled. In the absence of any explanation many students have been left to their own theories as to where the smell originates from, ranging from dead animals in the walls to a gas leakage. Through this hysteria, Northridge Academy Principal Lee explained the issue. Surprisingly, Lee clarified, that the issue was caused because a piece of the 4th floor drainage pipe was “covered with duck tape by the original contractors of the school”. Mr Lee also reassured us that the appropriate parts were being ordered and we can expect the issue to be fixed for good around the first week of October and Campbell will be able to finally move back to her home classroom, Room 217.
