I was recently asked the question if I were given an unlimited budget to improve the school what I would promote to be updated. As I walked around the school building, I noted many areas that were in need of an update. The walls appear bland and prison-like. The bright florescent lights remind one of an abandoned hospital of the lack of adoration and appreciation for the student’s art flimsily clinging onto the wall with insufficient and apparent tape. Understanding that though the budget isnt limited (hypothetically) we can only pick one thing to make the lives of the students and teachers easier or simply more cheerful. One thing that makes you smirk as you walk by or one item that makes you say “wow, I am really grateful that we have this tool.” So, with so much to do how to you chose the “one” to do. While walking around the school looking for inspiration, I heard a student complaining about the water fountain. The student was tilting the bottle on its side so that it would fit the awkward bowl in order to fill it up. Barely getting a sip in her bottle, she sighed and took a sip. Looking at her cup in disgust she said “eww omg all that work for the water to taste like metal”. That’s when I knew I needed to vouch for the update of our water fountains. 

In the last couple years, the market for reusable cups and bottles has skyrocketed due to the awakening of our polluted waters. We’ve seen the “VSCO girls” with the hydro flasks to now the half gallon or gallon water bottle being used after Tik Tok made us all aware of the benefits of drinking water throughout the day. The benefits include boosted energy levels, clearer skin, reduced headaches and many more. Humans are 70% water; it is essential to a healthy lifestyle. So how can we expect students who can’t fill up their water bottles and can’t leave the classroom more than one time per class period (sometimes not at all during “before break lockdowns”) to get enough water? This is why I propose new water fountains.

In Gyms, offices, airports and even parks we see a new version of water fountain where there are two water dispensers, one at the top, for filling up water bottles and one at the bottom for the flowing fountain like we are used to seeing. The water bottle filling function is controlled by a sensor, so when someone puts their bottle under the dispenser it automatically fills. The flowing fountain is controlled by a button just like the ones we have now.  The other function that these new fountains serve is they filter the water before dispensing so the water won’t taste like metal anymore because it won’t be sitting in the metal pipes, and it will be filtered through the machine. And on the top of the dispenser, it tells you how many plastic water bottles would have been saved by using the machine. So, this raised the question should we implement a new water fountain or is the ones we have now, okay?