First day runs smoothly

The first day of high school for the class of 2008 went smoothly despite a Code Red drill and newly instated lunch and computer restrictions, according to students and staff.

The freshmen were greeted by teachers who lined up along Blair Boulevard and applauded as the students went to homeroom. "At some point the students were excited about being here. The staff lined the hallway as the students arrived and we all clapped. The students seemed to enjoy that," said Harvey. "They were a little embarrassed at first but we did it last year and knew it would go over well."

Schedules were distributed and the students followed their schedule for a seven or eight period school day.

At 1:05 p.m., principal Phillip Gainous announced the school was entering a Code Blue drill. After a few minutes, Gainous told students and faculty that the school would proceed into Code Red. The administration then checked that the hallways were clear of students, the classrooms' windows were covered, the doors were locked and no sounds were audible from outside the rooms. Gainous then announced that there were no casualties and that the school would be evacuated. According to SGA president Sebastian Johnson, many freshmen had difficulty finding their fire drill-stadium locations but, otherwise, they were calm and patient throughout the fire drill, which ended at 2:05 p.m.

Administrator Suzanne Harvey said that as of last week, there were just over 800 students registered in Blair's class of 2008. Harvey also stated that since she heard this figure the guidance office has been busy registering even more students. Currently, the class of 2007 is the largest grade at Blair with 908 students.

The class of 2008 was the first to experience a new lunch rule that was established over the summer. The administration decided to forbid students from eating on the black benches in Blair Boulevard, according to Johnson. Harvey and Johnson agreed lunch occurred without incident but they are not sure of how the rule will affect the entire student body.

The class of 2008 was also the first in years to experience Blair without computer access. Computers will not be available to students until September 10. According to media assistant Lisa Hack, the installation of new hardware and software programs has caused problems with many Blair student and teacher accounts. "There are so many problems, even with the teachers' accounts, that we are trying to handle," said Head-In room assistant sophomore Josh Uzzel. "If we let students have access to imperfect accounts then we would be even more overwhelmed."