A path to the PPHS bunker building is necessary for the safety of students

Walking to the bunker is an adventure, and there are a few routes you can take to get there. Some like the rock-solid route of staying on the solid surfaces of the alleys, streets, and sidewalks. Most like the shorter route of off-roading it through the empty lot between our school building and the bunker. The question always comes up of why Purdue Polytechnic High School doesn’t have a sidewalk that takes you on the shortest path to the bunker. 

If you have had a class there, you understand how annoying it is to have to walk there. Those who take the shortest route through the empty lot understand how dangerous it is because of all the rocks that are loose under your footing. The undulation of the empty lot”s uneven surfaces is also a big issue. It’s concerning enough during the warmer months, and once it freezes over, it becomes even more dangerous as slipping and falling on those rocks just plainly hurts. Those sharp rocks will leave a mark on you. Also, in the interest of safety, we want to keep everyone walking the same path, not in the alleys and streets. We need a solution. 

 A solid path constructed for students, coaches, administrators, and visitors to use. But what kind of path should we create? It needs to be wide enough for multiple people to walk side by side and even pass each other. It needs to be a solid surface, concrete, bricks, cobblestones, flagstone and even pea gravel are options. It even needs some sort of lighting. Nothing makes a walking path safer after dark than the proper lighting. It could be a simple concrete sidewalk in the straightest line possible between the two buildings. Those who plan to be an engineer one day may appreciate this shortest straightest path approach. But our building is full of people who want to be more than just engineers. There is creativity flowing through our veins here at PPHS. We have options and we have ideas!

We want aesthetics! We want more than just a walkway, we want an adventure! School can be a brain drain. Let’s make this walk to and from the bunker a path that provides a brain break. It should be something that really allows us to take the time to enjoy the environment. The looks could be enhanced by allowing our art students to show off some of their created sculptures, by displaying them along the path. We could add a water feature allowing the hydroponics class to transfer grown plants from the classroom to the outside. Or a gardening class can grow plants inside the classroom in the winter and transfer them to the open areas around the path in the spring. We talked about lighting, and the tech and programming classes could add interactive lighting to the path. We could eventually add multiple connecting paths through the campus allowing this to turn into a walk that could be utilized by the gym classes as a way to meet their daily exercise goals. Or, simply just be utilized by the school and community as a form of relaxation.

 

In the end, this path will create a safe and consistent way to walk to the bunker and back. But it could be so much more than just a walkway. It could become another PPHS classroom. It could become a PPHS way of life. We have the passion, we have the will. It’s time to build the path. What a walking adventure this would be.