Months ago now, the bathroom situation at Bethpage High School escalated greatly. First, one person in the bathroom at a time, then rumors of phones being taken if they are seen on line, and finally, bathroom passes. According to math teacher Mr. Miller, “There should be a pass required when you leave the classroom”. School librarian Mrs. Bertrand-Loesch further explains, “The passes definitely will [be beneficial for the school] because…it’ll just make everyone accountable for where their going and that someone on one side of the school isn’t using a bathroom on the far, other side of the school…the whole point of, you know, having school is being in the seat and being in class and if you’re wondering the halls looking for a bathroom that’s half way across the school you’re just wasting…time.” Still, it wasn’t uncommon to overhear teachers lamenting about their student’s being out for minutes at a time.
The bathroom/hall passes seemed to spark a great annoyance as well, trying to find/buy them, hoping kids don’t lose them, making sure you remember them, keeping them clean, etc. Some of them were normal: post-it notes, actual school-made passes, etc. But then, there are some pretty unexpected ones, key takes to give the situation some twists and, occasionally, hilarity. So, here’s a list of some of the more unexpected bathroom passes I, and other BHS students, have seen issued by teachers within the month, from least to most eye catching:
- Mrs. Sagarese’s Italian dictionary and comic book.
- Mr. Miller’s block of wood.
- Mr. Tauriello’s bottle of dihydrogen monoxide.
- Ms. Oaks’ traffic cone.
- Mr. Musto’s toilet seat.
- Ms. Villanueva’s skull.
- Ms. Garvey’s deer head.
However, starting Monday 1/29/2024, teachers have been using passes designed and 3-D printed by engineering teacher Ms. Strauch, color coded by department. As she says, “As the Engineering teacher, I have access to 3D printers. The BHS administration asked if I could print passes for each classroom using a color-coding system. Each wing of the school has a color associated with the passes. The passes will streamline the bathroom/hallway policies across the school which will help both teachers and students.”
