Throughout the school year students at De Soto High School have been blissfully unaware of the construction going on around them. Every so often someone spots a large truck entering the school or a worker walking the hallways, but besides those incidents DHS has been fairly quiet. Until they started working on the roof that is.

A few weeks ago our class was sitting in band, blissfully unaware of the thunderous booms we were about to hear. When we did hear the startling noise, chaos consumed the classroom.

We have all heard the creepy noises throughout the school that sound like the ceiling is going to collapse at any moment, but rest assured, proper precautions are taking place to keep everyone safe.

With the new addition comes a new roof, which is the cause of the smell surrounding the building. Roofing tar is nasty stuff, and requires a very hot temperature to melt and apply. The weather can also affect when the roof can be worked on. Unforeseen obstacles, such as the large amount of rain,  can push back the completion date of the roof. Unfortunately, the smell clouding the school will not be leaving until summer.

Fortunately, unless you are pregnant or have a respiratory condition, the only physical impacts it may have are short term.  Overall, the noxious fumes will not do much to impact our health, just our noses.

However, the smell bothers many students throughout the school, making it hard for students to focus during school.

Of course, with the new location of the tar machine conveniently being located right by the back entrance to the school, students should use caution when walking past the machine when it is in use.

In addition to the tar machine moving to the back of the school, a crane and a multitude of other construction equipment such as boards and cones have appeared as well, making the student drop off zone and parking lot traffic has been impacted as well.

Overall, students returning next year can look forward to a new and improved, quiet, non-sulfur smelling high school, and a full sized parking lot.