Pulling into the junior lot, my mind went crazy trying to find a parking spot. These days, the Saint Thomas Aquinas parking lot leaves much to be desired, most notably, junior lot. The lot is practically chaotic when people are trying to leave school or when everyone shows up early to get a parking spot. There have definitely been issues lately that need to be discussed.
One of the issues identified is that seniors and sophomores have been parking there. One junior boy went on to say, “It’s ridiculous how [seniors and sophomores] park in our lot so not being able to park in the Junior lot isn’t fun.” Often, football or soccer has practice early in the morning and they tend to park in the junior lot so it’s closer for them. Not thinking, they stay in that lot and do not move to their designated parking space. By taking up room in this spot, juniors are forced to park in the senior lot, which only adds to the problem. It has been a complete warzone.
However, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School’s Assistant Director of Student Life, Justin Wrigley, had much to add when asked about the parking situation in junior lot. He reported the following numbers from the week of September 11: “There was 1 sophomore parked in the junior lot…3 seniors parked in the junior lot…11 juniors parked in the junior lot without a 2023-24 parking sticker…[and] 9 unknown vehicles parked in the junior lot that have not registered and displayed a 2023-24 parking sticker.” Looking at Wrigley’s numbers, it seems like there aren’t as many other grades parking there as originally believed. These numbers aren’t adding up with the number of students saying that parking spots are hard to find between senior and junior lot. Perhaps the time Wrigley checked affected the numbers (students leaving for appointments, late start day, less early practices, etc.) or perhaps the situation in the parking lot is not as drastic as some students are making it out to be. He also reported, “there were also 15 open spots in the junior lot [on the particular day he checked]. 12 of them were in the lot by the stadium and the other 3 were in the long lot that runs parallel to the driveway and senior lot.” Based on these numbers, the juniors need to do a better job on finding a parking spot in the junior lot. Wrigley will be checking the parking lots going forward to further solve the problem, so make sure you’re parking in the right spot!
Another problem is that people have been getting hit and there has not really been anything done to fix this issue. One junior girl offered a simple solution’ “If you see it, report it.” She makes a great point on how there will be some sort of answer to a problem. After asking students on how they can spread awareness to these issues, we’ve come up with an answer. The first thing that can help is informing classmates on what to do if a car has been hi
t. According to Officer Bill Koehn, the procedure of “state law is if you can’t find the owner, you have to leave a note on the car with your name, address and car registration number. [He] also recommends leaving your phone number so they can reach you. Leave the note on the windshield wiper to prevent you from being charged for a hit and run.” If this happens in the Saint Thomas Aquinas parking lot, go talk to Officer Koehn to report the accident. Officer Koehn and Officer Griffith will be in the main office until Officer Spandle returns in November. Both officers are very nice – don’t be afraid to go talk to them!
