Heatwave-induced power outage causes staff to initiate preparation plans
On Wednesday, Sept. 7, at around 7:30 a.m., a power outage affected Southern Palo Alto, including Gunn. While parts of campus experienced shorter outages, power was not restored in the A-J buildings until around 9:15 a.m. The Wi-Fi was also offline for all classrooms until 9:45 a.m.
According to Principal Wendy Stratton, the protocol is for all students to be sent home if Gunn cannot provide safe learning conditions. Since the partial outage posed no danger to students, there was no protocol to close school, which required Principal Wendy Stratton to think quickly. 鈥淚 had to start pulling together the master schedule [and think about] what rooms on campus weren鈥檛 being used,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 [created] a Google form and [tried] to have some places for people to go [before] the lights came back on.鈥�
Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher Elana Zizmor was on campus before school when the power went out. 鈥淚 went to the back storeroom where there are skylights, and I used my phone as a hotspot to use the internet,鈥� she said.
However, Zizmor had to adjust her lessons once students arrived since her classroom lacked sufficient natural light. 鈥淚 moved my activities around,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he activity we did with molecule [models was] done outside since I didn鈥檛 need any technology for it.鈥�
Freshman Maya Drews was in zero period Physical Education during the power outage. 鈥淥ur class was in the weightlifting room when the lights turned off,鈥� she said. 鈥淓veryone鈥攊ncluding Mr. McGinn鈥攚as pretty surprised because of how sudden it was.鈥�
Administrators are still trying to determine why only parts of Gunn were impacted. 鈥淲e鈥檙e curious to figure out exactly what the power grid looks like and how different parts of Gunn are charged,鈥� Stratton said.
Stratton expects similar events to Wednesday’s power outage in the future. 鈥淲ith the way things are going with our climate, we can probably anticipate more situations interrupting school, [necessitating] emergency preparedness,鈥� she said. 鈥淸However,] I have confidence that I can lean on the district for support, and I plan on communicating any updates I receive with teachers.鈥�
Overall, Stratton was proud of how all fifth period classes handled the unexpected circumstances. 鈥淚 was really impressed that everybody just went with it,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople came together and we were calm, which shows how awesome of a community Gunn is. Our staff and students showed that they could teach and learn even in different conditions than we鈥檙e used to.鈥�
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