For many students, the decision on what to wear can sometimes depend on the day’s class schedule rather than the weather outside as no two classrooms in the school are the same temperature.

Teachers have the right to keep their rooms at temperatures of their discretion and there may be some outlying factors such as science classrooms containing substances that must be in a certain environment. However, the distinct differences in humidity as well as temperature are often frustrating and irritating to many students.

The problem can be even worse when the school day ends as the air conditioning is automatically shut off shortly after 4:10 p.m. For some extracurriculars this can be lead to some serious overheating.

Orchestra had their first concert of the year recently, but not all the participants can say it was a totally enjoyable event.

Within 15 minutes of arriving, all the orchestra students were fanning themselves and complaining of the heat. The all black uniforms covering shoulders and legs didn’t help either. Some students ended up waiting for an hour in the crowded band hall before they walked on stage.

And by the time they did, many students’ hands were clammy with sweat, making it much harder to play their instrument. Not only that, the stage lights release a lot of heat as well.

Although the fine arts directors asked for the air conditioning to be kept on after school, that did not happen. Even though the school and district save some money by conserving that energy, it doesn’t help students.

Concerts are supposed to be a time of joy and reflection, where participants, directors, and the audience can appreciate the hard work the staff and students put into the program throughout the year. They often bring the students closer to each other socially and emotionally as they spend more time together.

The heat and humidity only irritates the students and directors and makes concerts seem like an annoying chore rather than a fun occasion.

Furthermore, humidity is detrimental to string instruments as it changes the pitches of the strings and wood, causing additional problems for string players because they have to retune the instrument.

It seems like the fine arts wing should be the least humid place in the school because of the special conditions required for the instruments, but the wet, hot, environment there seems to provide the exact opposite.

In classrooms, the room temperature can affect students’ performances. A study done shows that students score better on tests when in a not too hot, not too cold environment. Many become sleepy or find it hard to concentrate in a too hot or too cold environment.

But here on campus that doesn’t seem to be a consideration as the people who control the temperature aren’t the students themselves.