Gallery • 9 Photos

By Angela Paull
Over the winter, the Board of Education had new lockers installed at Weir High school, Weir Middle School, and Oak Glen High School.
Head principal Kristin Bissett said, “I have always wanted new lockers but because of the expense, I had to wait on the board office to have the money to pay for it.” Students noticed over the years that the lockers were very worn out and needed replaced. The lockers would get stuck, the top compartment would not open, and the combinations were faded. They been in the walls since the
1960’s when the new school got built. That is about 63 years students have used these lockers. According to DeBourgh.com, “lockers should be replaced
10-20 year,” so these were a much needed replacement. These new lockers are a BIG improvement to the school. The lockers will not only improve the school’s appearance, but they are also more efficient for students. These ones are gray, much wider and have a shelf on the top
inside. The old ones were thin and you could barley fit anything in them. Students should be able to fit sports bags in them. Mrs. Bissett said in an interview, “We are excited to get new lockers.”According to HCS Director of Facilities and Maintenance Mark Dziatkowicz, PHP Locker Company delivered the materials to Weir’s theater at the beginning of January, and the workers started building them.” They installed the lockers by building, starting with A and ending with G. The total cost of the lockers was $183,000. Founded in 1977, the company’s mission is “to be the best provider of Student Lockers, Locker Renovation, and locker-related products.”In their thirty-plus year
history, they have “helped thousands of public and private school customers from Maryland to Texas by providing solutions that are tailored to their needs.” Now, they can add West Virginia to the list. They also serve YMCA’s, athletic clubs, and private industrial clients who provide lockers to their
employees. Though there were some issues with the new lockers for a few
“Please pass the word to take care of the lockers, so they remain in good
shape for both present and future classes to utilize for many years!”
-Mark Dziakowic

Most students were able to access them easily, and the other problems were resolved quickly.

In G building, there was a delay dude to missing parts,so they waited to remove the old lockers in that building so freshman had a place to store their belongings. The parts arrived at the beginning of February and were
installed by the end of the month.Freshmen received their locker information on Feb. 27 during lunch and began using them on Feb. 28. Students from each grade shared their options on the new and old lockers:
Senior…Will you miss the
locker you had all 4 years of high
school? Jordyn Ferguson says,
“In my personal experience, I am
glad they are gone, I had too much
trouble getting my backpack out of
my locker because it didn’t fit, now
that they are bigger it will minimize that problem in the future.”
Junior…Are you excited
about the new lockers? What improvement do you think this has
with the school? Ava Babinchak
says, “Yes because I will finally be
able to fit my jacket, my book bag
in the lockers since they will have
more space.” “It has improvement
for people who do sports and can
keep stuff in their lockers and not
have to store their stuff in teachers rooms.”
Freshman…How did you
feel about the lockers when you
got to the high school? Megan
Brinkley says, “I felt that they
were small and on the first day my
top part wouldn’t open. So all my
stuff was in the bottom.”