A picture of one of the murals screen-printed around the school over the summer, which took precedence over fixing some of the more pressing issues around the school.
The phrase “putting lipstick on a pig” stems from the idea of making superficial changes to something deeply flawed. It is a futile attempt to “pretty it up” without making any changes that actually matter. The reason I bring this up stems from the recent murals being screen-printed around Marion. One may have noticed the walls being decorated with the Wolves mascot and positive characteristics that the school wants their students to uphold, such as traits like “respectful” or “ responsible.” And while I am not at all trying to diminish the effort being put into the facility, it also has to be acknowledged that this school may have bigger concerns than the color of the walls. Instead of artwork, district resources should be used towards the upkeep of the building.
Now it’s no secret that the high school has been around for a long time; the long-standing structure has been the home of around 60 graduating classes. But in all of its years, the upgrades towards the structure have been more focused on looks and design rather than the longevity of the high school building. For instance, the wall murals that are now being put all around the facility or the fresh carpet in the hallways, because while the new additions are easy on the eyes, it’s hard to wonder why our resources are being used on short-sighted fixes instead of long-term solutions.
This school is dealing with issues of mold and other problems that mess with the functionality of the building. So in simple terms, the high school seems to be crumbling by the hour. Now that may be a bit dramatic, but what isn’t is that Marion is facing a plethora of issues because of how old the high school building is. One example of this would be the challenges English teacher, Gretchen Mundorf, had with her classroom when she found mold in it at the beginning of the new year in the carpeting, and when removed, asbestos was found underneath it. Because of this, she had to move to a smaller room and store all of her items in the old auditorium so that this problem could be remedied. Instances like this occur in old structures; although no one is at fault, it is to be said that an old facility like Marion needs to be revamped.
But as much as the school getting a makeover sounds nice, it is currently unattainable. Why, one may ask, and the answer is that the facility has had so much money poured into fixing the ongoing issues with the air conditioning unit that tearing down the structure now would not only be a complete waste of money, but the district no longer has the money to do so. And while I know this was all done in good faith and to fix a broken school, it’s hard to wonder why tearing the building down and starting from scratch wasn’t the idea the people in charge went with. Since such an old facility is only going to have more issues as time goes on, using the new performance center as a starting point for a new structure seems like the only way the high school is going to be rid of all its problems.
In all, the add-ons to the school have been pleasant but not at all necessary. Especially when problems like mold appear in our classrooms,
By fixing those problems, the latest additions around the property can actually be appreciated, rather than overshadowed by all that is wrong, so that students and staff can enjoy a safe and pleasant school environment.