It’s an 80-degree day and you’re stuck in school writing your essay. Your mind starts to wander and now you’re thinking about being at the beach, with your friends, soaking in the sun. While heading into the summer; the days get warmer and longer. Kids begin to lose motivation in school and fail to get anything important done.

As a student myself, I can attest to the fact that the warm weather makes it harder to learn. My motivation starts to lean toward new things like swimming, friends, and sitting in the sun. I lose focus on what I’m doing with just one thought and I bet others could agree. The hot classroom makes it so hard for me and other students too. 

I interviewed some students, Lila Hardy and Kerry Sullivan on their views, and it seems that they had very similar things to say.

I first started out by asking when the first warm day comes around, do they know that eventually, their motivation will start to fade.

Lila answered, “Yes, because I’ll be thinking about summer all the time. For example, I am already seeing my motivation fading because it has been such a long year and the weather just started becoming warm”

Kerry answered, “Yes, because it is warm out and spending more time outside makes me want to not stare at a screen and do school work.”

I then asked them what their two hottest classrooms are in the school.

Lila answered, “Ms. Cromwell and Ms. Farrel” 

Kerry answered, “Ms. Farrell and the cafe” 

After hearing these results, I went on to ask Ms. Cromwell and Ms. Farrel if they agreed. 

Ms. Farrel, “No, but when I had room 141 it was much hotter than the room I am in now. The sun does not hit the room as much.” 

Ms. Cromwell, “Yes, yesterday it was 87 degrees seventh period.” 

Lastly, I asked all four if they believe our school should invest in some air conditioning.

Lila answered, “ Yes, I do not think the heat in the school is a good learning environment”

Kerry further agreed with Lila saying, “Yes, if there was air conditioning, I think I would get more work done and be happier in school.” 

Ms. Farrel answered, “Not [in] this old building because it is being rebuilt, but for the new school building it should definitely be considered.”

Ms. Cromwell agreed,  “Yes, I think the new building should definitely have air conditioning.” 

This has always been a problem, the fact that none of the Pentucket schools have ac. As the weather progressively gets hotter, the school becomes a sauna. I understand that 1- the school has a budget and that 2- it is not cold year-round, but for the period of time the school is warm, it should provide cold air. As Ms. Cromwell and Ms. Farell both said, they hope the new high school will invest in air conditioning. I think that if the new high school does invest; it will be a game-changer for the students. 

My mom is a teacher at the Sweetsir elementary school in Merrimac and they are part of the Pentucket district that has no AC. I believe that the fact it is an elementary school with no air conditioning makes it even worse. My mom often brings up how her room is so muggy all day and how none of her students can focus- all because it was so warm. Even though these elementary schools are not being rebuilt like the high school, we can have hope that they will also invest in air conditioning, as it would benefit the younger kids just as much as the older.  As a district with these issues, they should take into consideration applying air conditioning. No school should want to see the kids suffer in the heat and lose motivation of doing any work at all.  

Researchers at luskin.ucls.edu found that when the temperature goes over 75 degrees the learning starts to decline. They say that over 75 it becomes extremely problematic and that’s when kids lose it all. According to luskin.ucla.edu, They say that “without air conditioning, each 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by 1 percent”. I would have never known this fact until I did my research and I am amazed by it. Never would you think that the warm weather could decrease learning that much.

When it is warmer, your ideas decrease. Students are so distracted by sweating, drinking enough water, or even not getting a sunburn that they completely forget about school and getting work done. There should be actions taken to help prevent this. It is a common issue within all schools and should be looked at more.