By Adam Kemp

An important feature of Loy Norrix’s architectural style is the feeling of openness, which is created by all the windows. Kalamazoo Central students sit in windowless rooms most of the day, but luckily, a majority of Norrix’s classrooms and hallways have many windows allowing students to view the natural beauty of the outdoors. The A, B, and C wings of the school each have windowed boxes around small courtyards. These courtyards give the halls a pleasant, natural feeling, but some students think that the yards aren’t as nice as they once were.

“I think the courtyards are looking a little bit run down and boring,” said Loy Norrix junior Josh Nephew.

Loy Norrix’s courtyards seem to go through cycles of being fixed up to look nice, and then being ignored and becoming bland. The current state of the courtyards seems to be leaning toward bland. According to English teacher, Tisha Pankop, when the school was built, a few of the courtyards had specific purposes. In the past, the B wing courtyard was left as untamed woods, so that students could conduct biology research and experiments in it.

The C wing courtyard was just a grassy plot until a few years ago when the ecology club decided to spruce it up. They added a gravel path, planted flowerbeds, and added a bench and birdhouses. However, this arrangement was not maintained, and now the courtyard is filled with tall bushy weeds and wildflowers.

The A wing courtyard also received a small makeover from AP Studio Art students a few years ago when they painted the wood sculpture in a pastel rainbow. People appreciate when improvements like this are made to our learning environment.

“It’s nice to see the sculpture in the A wing during the school day,” said senior Theodore Morrissey.

The A wing courtyard is not looking as overgrown as the C wing yet, but students have sighted raccoons inhabiting it from time to time. Students agree that they would like to see improvements made to the courtyards.

Nephew said, “I think they could be better maintained and possibly open for lunches so we could eat in them some day. That would be dope.”

It’s clear that if people want the courtyards to look nice, somebody’s going to have to do the work of maintenance.

Senior Samantha Brown said, “If people actually maintained the projects that have been started in the past, the courtyards could look really nice.”