Tucked underneath the central staircase to the High School, Bottom O is a shared space for all members of the Grade 12 class. Since the beginning of the school year, disagreement has risen over assignments for the 45 available cubbies in Bottom O to a Grade 12 class with 136 members.
Student Council President Darren Morris (鈥�23) said sticky notes with student names began appearing on cubbies the first day of school, motivating others to quickly claim the remaining spaces.
鈥淭here was this sort of panic as more and more people started labeling their cubbies,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen, there’s this fear that if you don’t label your cubby, you’re never going to be able to have one, so it sort of built on itself.鈥�
There’s this fear that if you don’t label your cubby, you’re never going to be able to have one.
— Darren Morris ('23)
Grade 12 Dean Duncan Pringle said although Bottom O is a 鈥渃ommunal space鈥� and the cubbies 鈥渄on鈥檛 belong to anyone,鈥� the administration is not involved in regulation.聽
Morris said he does not support the claiming of the cubbies given Bottom O鈥檚 purpose as a shared area.
鈥淚t’s this sort of self-serving bastion of community values, friendship, courage, integrity and all the Core Values,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, what it’s morphed into is just a faux locker for whoever puts their name on it.鈥�
Meanwhile, Kyle Kettler (鈥�23), a member of the Varsity soccer team, said extracurricular activities should factor into the possession of cubbies. She said she has a laminated name tag as a place to store her sports bag when she has practice.
鈥淚 think everyone should have a cubby, and I understand that there鈥檚 not enough, but if you don鈥檛 have a use for it there’s no need to delegate them to people,鈥� she said.
If you don鈥檛 have a use for it, there’s no need to delegate them to people.
— Kyle Kettler ('23)
Although Kettler said cubbies are a 鈥減oint of convenience鈥� for students participating in sports, Kettler said cubbies should not be exclusively reserved for athletes.
Morris said all labels were removed from the cubbies less than a week after their initial appearance, but students began laminating and taping name tags in protest.聽
鈥淚 hoped that having every single name tag ripped off would send a message to people who wanted to put a nametag there that that’s not how we’re going to do things anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, their response is to fight fire-with-fire and laminate.鈥�
Pringle said the debate over locker assignments is amusing because Grade 12 students had the opportunity to opt for a locker surrounding the Orange pod.
鈥淚 chuckle to myself,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean anything.鈥�
Ultimately, Morris said the Grade 12 class should come to an agreement on cubby organization.聽
鈥淕oing sort of over the heads of students to get them taken down defeats the purpose of the senior class coming together and Bottom O in general,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this is something that we need to resolve internally.鈥�
Paul • Sep 10, 2022 at 10:12 am
Love your article Clara. Cubbies should be left open, unclaimed, first-come first-serve, with nothing left behind overnight. It should be treated just like a parking space, with all cars left overnight towed away!