By: Gianna Mehes

In an effort to upgrade the facilities at Woodbridge High School, several improvements were made over the summer ahead of the 2015-2016 school year. Principal Lottmann recently took the time to talk to The Barron Perspective about the developments.

Barron Perspective: How many improvements occurred over the summer? What were they?Mr. Lottmann: We have a lot going on. There’s the parking lot, new cafeteria floors, the new fire doors, and the new JROTC room. We’re at a time right now where a lot of things are happening, so I’m happy that the staff and students will be able to appreciate these sort of things.

BP: What enhancements do you feel are going to prove most effective this school year?
ML: I think all of them combined. At the end of the day, why do you make physical improvements? In my opinion, we make physical improvements to boost up school morale, to raise school pride, and I think that every little bit we did will do just that.

BP: Are there any more improvements that will be done over the course of this year?
ML: We’re going to have the new dance and wrestling room in 139 finished soon. And another addition we’re going to have–we were going to have them at the start of this year, but the company fell through–we’re going to get black and red lockers everywhere in the school now. The rest of the D-Wing will be finished, and the second and third floors are going to have the lockers that the first floor has. It’ll be done over winter break.

BP: Were there any problems that arose last year to push for any of these developments?
ML: With the parking lot, I wouldn’t say it was a problem, but more of a challenge, and we fixed that. A problem would have been the cafeteria floors.

BP: Why was it imperative to replace the floor in the cafeterias?
ML: The floors in the cafeteria were becoming such a problem. Let alone how ugly the floor was because those colors were so gross, every day another tile would come up. It just wasn’t safe, because people could fall, or get their foot stuck and turn their ankle. Whatever it was, it was becoming a hazard.

BP: What was the purpose of installing the new fire doors?
ML: The previous fire doors were so old and decrepit that we were getting to the point where, soon, we’d be breaking code. The fire doors, by definition, have to remain closed at all time. With the old doors, when you opened it, it wouldn’t close on its own. So I would go around the halls all the time and physically close all the doors by myself, which wasn’t that big of a deal, but I can’t always do that. And then, throughout that class period, if a student goes through that door, it would stay open. The reason for fire doors is, if a fire were to happen, those closed doors would make the fire stay in that area of the building and it wouldn’t spread to the rest of the school. These doors now, there’s a magnet in them, so all the doors close automatically when the fire alarm goes off, whether it be for a drill or an actual emergency.

BP: Were there any class-specific renovations?
ML: The dance and wrestling room will obviously be class specific, but other than that, no.

BP: What is your personal favorite school improvement(s)?
ML: My personal one? Cafeteria. I love the red and black tiles. And we’re painting the walls there soon, too; we’re going to paint them a slightly paler color. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but especially in 129, the red floor with the red wall in the back, it’s not aesthetically pleasing. That’ll be done shortly. I like the parking lot, too. Did you see my reserved spot with the “W” on it? That was my idea! “Reserved” is boring, you put that “W” on there, yeah, school property. I enjoy it. Mr. Angatia was nice enough to make a stencil, get some spray paint, and done. I love that.

BP: Is there anything you would like to add?
ML: We’re doing all this to make sure students and staff are all proud to be part of the school. When I think about Woodbridge High School, my pride level goes up. The reason for these improvements is for everyone in Woodbridge High School to feel the same was as I do.