The bathrooms are a seemingly unproblematic spot in most places, but at Rodriguez, there has been a noticeable increase in enforcement of bathroom policies in the past school year, a newfound debate amongst students over those measures. 

The main regulations put in place have centered around the length of time that a student can use the restroom and the times students are allowed to go, being reinforced by locking the bathrooms. 

Gabriel Alansy, an upperclassman, has his observations about the locking. 

“If I was gonna be honest, I think some students are doing something that they are not supposed to be doing.” Alansy said.

This notion was further backed up by fellow students, including Olivia St. Surin, an underclassman.

“There's a wandering issue, so I've heard about drugs and dangerous things,” Surin said. “I think the shorter tutorials and no more tutorial passes have resulted in Cherry cracking down on wandering.”

Surin remarked, “I think the times are more strict on when you can use the bathroom, I think it has to do with the amount of people who aren't in class?”

Sierra Stevenson, a senior and member of the leadership ASB team, has her thoughts on the issue as an older student on campus. 

“People use the bathrooms for non-bathroom reasons.” Stevenson further added, “I understand why they’ve shut down a lot of them during class time since students would skip class to drink or smoke.”

Stevenson then noted the odd times of the bathrooms being shut down in addition to the shutdowns.

“I don’t understand why they keep them shut for lunch. It’s an inconvenience to everyone and cuts their already short lunch even shorter,” Stevenson stated

Anika Yogi, a senior, expressed her thoughts about the locking of bathrooms. 

“I feel as though earlier in my high school career, we had more which were open and accessible, But now with the only one bathroom being open, most of the time it becomes more difficult to go.” Yogi stated.

While this issue is somewhat unclear on the purpose to the student body, principal Kristen Cherry has a clear purpose in enforcing the measures. 

“One of the reasons I was asked to come to Rod was that I increased the safety of our students,” Cherry said. 

One of the issues is that there is a limited number of campus monitors and other staff to supervise common areas during class time.

“I'm going to increase the safety of our students, but I still have to work with the amount of [campus monitors], which is five people, and you know how big our campus is.”

There's been a general struggle from faculty when it comes to enforcing these policies and maintaining a fair environment for students. The struggle comes from the sheer scale and size of the student population. 

“Two stories, five people, all the way from here to the baseball fields. If I'm going to increase safety, then I have to redirect the kids to what's gonna be the safest area. That has unfortunately caused the bathrooms to be closed,” Cherry remarked.

However, to combat this issue there's been an even newer policy put into place, which is the ability to request a campus monitor to unlock bathrooms in case of a lack of open stalls. This was done to help regulate the flow of bathrooms. 

Cherry stated, “There was a long line out of upstairs D and I called coach Miles and said ‘Can you unlock that for the girls and just hang out until it's empty and then lock it once the lines go down?’ I sent half of them over there and they used it, they were done, and then there was no longer a line in C.”

This guideline has been posted in the bathrooms in recent weeks. Before that, many students were not aware of this policy.

“I did not know this,” Stevenson stated. “For the students, I see how this can be a great benefit since most bathrooms on campus are closed. However, I also sympathize with the yard duties and campus monitors who have better things to do than unlock/open bathrooms. While it is a better way to control the bathroom issues, there are better ways someone could spend their time.”

While there's no perfect solution, there's still a sense of appreciation for these measures taken by the administrators. 

“I wouldn't say it's fair, I don't think it's fair but you do what you have to do to stop stuff from happening in the bathroom.” Alansy said, “Unless they put some supervision in that area, then ya know you gotta do what you have to do.”

Aaron Phelps and Sachi Bansal have made Rodriguez High School history by becoming two of the first ever students to compete in the film festival “All American Student Film Festival” on October 20th, 2023. Their films Sad Disco and Slanted Perspectives: My Life with SMA are both being shown in New York City to compete with students from all around the world. 

Phelps, the filmmaker behind Slanted Perspectives: My Life with SMA remarked, “It feels good. I’m really proud of the film and the fact that it is being shown in different parts of the country.” 

Back in 2023, two freshman students from the video production class would end up participating in a variety of film festivals such as the Eyelight Film Festival and now All American Student Film Festival. Bansal, the filmmaker behind Sad Disco, never expected to participate in such competitions.

“I was sitting in my room and I got an email. I just got back from a college class and I got an email that's like ‘Oh do you wanna go to New York? Your film is gonna be shown there’.” Bansal stated.

Bansal further added, “I thought it was sent to the wrong person, but I saw my name and saw it was from Ms. Larsen and I were completely shocked. This was completely out of nowhere.” 

While Bansal never expected this, she still expressed gratitude for the video production. 

“I’ve never worked in film before, I’ve never edited so if you're already a filmmaker, there's so much you can achieve at Rodriguez and Ms. Larsen is very supportive of that.” 

Bansal was never a filmmaker prior, but Phelps has his own connection for film that video production helped explore. 

“During Junior year I plan on taking the second part of Video Production with Ms. Larsen. I hope to eventually get into film school and make a career as a writer and director. I hope to someday work for the Walt Disney Company,” he said.

In particular, Phelps has a personal connection to his film which documents his life and his experience with the condition of spinal muscular dystrophy. “My goal was to make a film that showed people what it is like to have Spinal Muscular Dystrophy and to be a disabled young person in general,” Phelps stated.

Phelps further explained, “Part of my goal was to show people that I am a regular person with big goals, and that although I can’t walk, I can still do anything I want.”

With his love for film and his life experiences with muscular dystrophy, Phelps is determined to make his dream of becoming a filmmaker come true. “I want other disabled filmmakers to know that it isn’t impossible for them to make movies, no matter what other people say. What they need to make their dreams come true is a lot of determination and people to help them,” he emphasized.

Lynn Larsen, Rodriguez’s video production and art teacher, was particularly excited about Bansal and Phelps achievements. While she doesn’t expect the students to win, she’s still overjoyed with their accomplishments.

“Just getting there is amazing. If they win I will be overjoyed, but I'm not going there with the expectation that they're going to win.” Larsen further added, “This is the first time that Rodriguez has ever made it, this is the first time Rodriguez has ever done a field trip like this, there's so many firsts.”

With the film festival and the student participation, Larsen emphasized her own amazement for the film's quality and traits. Iana Balacy, a senior and head secretary of Cinema Club, watched the films and provided her review relating to the films quality.

“I think both of them hit those pretty well since their students made films. I'm not gonna be criticizing them like I would with a professional film. They were well made with what you can do as a student.” Balacy remarked, “Especially My Life with SMA, that film was really emotional…I really wanted to cry. It was really emotional and the fact it could bring out those feelings is really important,”

Balacy then discussed Bansals film, “The music video style one I thought was really nice and fun and upbeat, I would probably watch it again and look further into when I have more time. I thought that one was really fun.”

While Bansal and Phelps didn't win an award in the festival, there's still pride in knowing that they tried. Providing her last bit of wisdom to not just the duo, but for everyone, Larsen said, “I'm proud of their achievements, and their proof that anyone can achieve higher than their expectations. Sachi said that they weren't expecting to even be recognized, so you have to try to succeed. You can't succeed without trying. You have to go out there and take that risk. I guess that's what it is, take that risk.”