As students have returned to Hazelwood Central High school this fall, they may have noticed some new decorations that now fill the hallways. There are banners, posters, and flags hanging around the school pretty much everywhere.
While they make for a colorful sight, the decorations scattered throughout the halls were placed there for a reason.
The school staff has made it a mission to increase Hazelwood Central High’s sense of community among students, to prepare them for life after high school, and their plans for the future.
Assistant Principal Jami Vault believes that students having important conversations during this time in their lives is crucial to their development, and the decorations in the halls are the perfect conversation starters.
“We definitely want to have a college and career ready presence. We want students to know what their options are when they leave school,” said Vault.
There are a variety of different things located in each hallway.
In upstairs A-hall there are posters of Missouri colleges and universities, along with some necessary information like the tuition cost, how far they are from Missouri, and the GPA required to get in.
Upstairs B-hall is the HBCU hallway, meant to spotlight historically black colleges and universities. There are posters with the information about those various colleges, and famous people who have graduated from them.
Downstairs D-hall is where IVY league schools are located and much like B-hall there is information about them, and famous people who graduated from them.
In Downstairs A and C-hall, there are banners of famous and influential people hanging from the ceiling along with some positive affirmation flyers.
Some people around the school seem to believe that the school’s new look suits it.
“The banners are pretty cool,” said junior Antonio Boyce.
Kelvin Lee, a counselor at the school said “I like them, they promote school spirit.”
As you can see, the school has made quite an effort in its attempt to bolster community and school spirit, but is it working?
Assistant Principal Vault believes that the decorations are helping to bring awareness of college and college options to the students.
“I do know that it has brought awareness to colleges in general, so that’s good that students are having those types of conversations and recognizing that. I’m going to process that and see if we can come up with some things, to help further build community,” said Vault.
There are plans to decorate F, D, and E hall the same as the other halls.
Assistant Principal Vault shared her sentiments, stating “Some students who have seen them were happy to see them, we got positive feedback, but I haven’t gotten the reaction from students that I’m hoping for yet, and so I’m working on ways to draw more attention to them.”
