The Lincoln Log

      If you walked into a classroom, you probably wouldn’t know how old that room was. Wouldn’t you wonder how many kids have sat in that same desk you’re sitting in? Wonder about the aging desks and the ancient worn and weathered textbooks? Most students don’t give a seconds thought about the textbooks and supplies in their classrooms. They take it for granted, thinking the school will replace that broken pencil, the textbook that’s falling apart. Maybe the school will, maybe they wont, and if they don’t, those students stuck with that broken pencil and the textbook with the pages that are falling out.

      At Abraham Lincoln High School, we have our share of outdated supplies, including desks, art supplies, electronics and textbooks. Equipment is up to par in most classrooms but in some, that isn’t the case. Most equipment and supplies conditions solely depend on the teacher of the classroom. An organized, tidy teacher would most likely keep a classroom neat and clean, making sure the supplies were ready for distribution. While a more unorganized one would have supplies that are under par, like colored pencils that are broken and other deficiencies. A classrooms state may also affect student’s abilities, while they may be minimal, such as not being able to complete an assigned task without that needed supply; some may feel a sense of degradation. Almost as if the school or the teacher doesn’t care that the students are stuck with broken equipment.      

Most teachers make the effort to provide their students with adequate supplies, but there are some who simply don’t care, this could work to affect a student’s education by hindering it. While simply going out and spending money left and right for new shiny supplies and new computers is out of the question since most schools are already pressed for funds as it is. Even the smallest things can help; efforts should be made to keep supplies fresh or at least working so students can use them.

      Of all the things for a student to worry about, worrying about getting a spare pencil or worrying about the textbook with the fragile bindings shouldn’t be one of them. Our minds are exerted enough worrying about college admissions, unnecessarily absurd amounts of homework, towering projects, maintaining a resemblance of a social life, and keeping grades up to par.