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Lesson Plans


RE: No Windows

From: Kimberly Herbert (kimberly)
Date: Wed May 24 2000 - 20:00:31 PDT

  • Next message: Kimberly Herbert: "RE: No Windows"

    When my neighbor moved to town, she expected her son's asthma to get better
    because we have near desert conditions. They are from Houston. The boy
    actually because sicker. She started to keep a journal tracking his asthma
    attacks looking for an environmental cause. She found the longer he was in
    school the sicker he became. She and some other parents got together and
    agitated for an air quality study. The fresh air intake for the AC was next
    to the sewer stack!! The music room had almost no oxygen in it and the
    ventilation wasn't working at all in that room. The music teacher was
    ordered by the technician to leave her windows open, because he was so
    concerned. A week later she was fined for having her windows open by the
    energy efficiency office! Those problems have been solved (supposedly). A
    couple of months ago a Girl Scout group having a meeting after school had to
    evacuate when the AC over heated and started smoking. Administration
    response - oh this happens all the time there is some problem with the AC.
    Thank God their next-door neighbor is the Fire Department.

    Kimberly Herbert (kimberly)
    CAM Administrator
    San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts/Children's Art Museum

    -----Original Message-----
    From: LMiller435 [LMiller435]
    Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 7:03 PM
    To: ArtsEdNet Talk
    Subject: Re: No Windows

    Nina,

    I actually do have frosted light from ceiling level coming in and a back
    door
    I can open, but in the storage room, not my room.

    There are three other teachers in town who have no natural light.
    One is in a school that was built as an open plan middle school. The art
    room in that school were to die for! Big, open, roof of glass and windows
    and doors to the outside. Sinks and storage and room for clay and printing
    presses. Everything!

    When that school was turned into an elementary school, the art rooms were
    given to the kindergartens and the art room was put into an inside, under
    the
    ground room. No windows and mold growing across the walls and ceilings. The
    school was built for air-conditioning, but they ran out of money and never
    put it in. Many children and teachers were chronically sick there, but of
    course, no one listened cause it would cost money.

    Of course the administrators all have air-conditioning, my kiln waited
    almost
    a year to be fixed while the electricians did the air-conditioning in the
    administration building.

    Finally, the ducts were cleaned out. The air quality is better there, now. I
    don't know what caused the cleaning out of the duct system.

    Good luck to you. I would get your principal's sanction documented, though.
    Before you make waves.

    Good luck.

    Les 

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