“[Ping pong] is one of the more positive things we’ve seen [at the school], but the location has to be fixed,” said government teacher Cynthia Powell. “I don’t know how many times I’ve almost worn my lunch, and it’s not like anybody’s trying to do that, they’re just having fun.”
Senior Matt Amick, VHS’s ping pong league creator, understands the complaints, but sees them as trivial.
“I think that the complaints are valid, but all it takes to walk by the crowds is a simple ‘excuse me,’ so it shouldn’t be such a big deal,” said Amick.
Despite Amick’s assurance, the ASB has been working to solve the space issue, but have not found an easy solution yet.
“We understand that this threat is real and annoying, but it’s hard to move such a central and thriving activity, especially with the limited space we have,” said ASB secretary Natalie Kerns.
Some ideas have been to move the ping pong tables to the middle of the lunchroom or move the foosball tables to another location. However, neither of these solutions makes everyone happy.
“[Moving the tables to the middle] just creates a lot less room where kids can eat and I feel like it would seem like we just want more attention for ping pong which we defiantly have enough of already,” said Amick.
Kerns agreed.
“[We] decided it is nice to have that [space] for only the championship game, like last year. Besides, having the tables in the middle of the lunch room all year round would be [going] a bit overboard, with it constantly being the center of attention for people who don’t necessarily enjoy the sport,” she said.
Powell had another idea.
“We could spread it out a little bit, maybe have one table there, and one in front of the ASB closet,” she said.
The ASB is continuing to search for a solution that will make both the students and the staff happy, in hopes to resolve the issue.
Read Less...
It is nearly impossible to ignore the ping pong phenomenon that has taken over our school. Every day matches are played at break and lunch between freshmen, juniors, seniors, sophomores, and even staff members, which lead up to the playoff games in the spring. Roars emanate from the crowds huddled around the two tables at moments of excitement, brilliance, shock, and upset. Although these crowds are supporting their peers, they have become somewhat of a problem. They block students’ lockers and the entrance to the staff room, especially during games of high attendance.