by Cameron Edlund, Ridge staff writer
Originally appeared in The Ridge, the school newspaper for Seminole Ridge High, Volume 8, Issue 14
Our school hosts blood drives throughout the year, and science teacher Mrs.Shawna Ahmad coordinates those drives with help from the National Honor Society blood drive committee, resulting in our students donating the most blood of any school in Palm Beach County for some time now.
If you happened to be in the courtyard during the last drive, you saw science students launching bottle rockets in a spectacular fashion. Hundreds of rockets were launched, labeled—as an incentive to give—with the names of those who donated. Twenty-eight rockets, launched before any others, were fired off in honor of those who died in the Sandy Hook school shootings. It was a touching ceremony to watch, and a pretty cool one.
Unfortunately, the system that worked for so long was changed for the last drive, and maybe for many to come. Students who wished to participate used to be able to choose any class to ‘skip’ to donate blood. Of course they all chose their worst class, usually a ‘core’ class, to skip. The core class teachers had had enough, leading to new restrictions: students are no longer allowed to cut a ‘core’ class to give blood, so many don’t bother signing up for the drive.
Along with the food and the reward of saving lives, kids donated in order to skip class. Sound ugly? What can you expect? We're just kids! And without the ‘skip class’ incentive, blood donations have dropped significantly—you could see how few people were sitting in the waiting room to donate. Unlike in previous years where we were packed like sardines, no one struggled to find a seat.
We must ask the ‘core’ teachers: is this new restriction really worth it? Is missing one class that wrong? It might be any of us—or them—lying on a table someday in need of blood!
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