The restrooms at Española Valley High School have long been in poor condition, sometimes lacking the features needed to ensure student privacy and hygiene.
In response, three seniors at the High School have taken it upon themselves to address the issue by raising money and supplies to make the much needed repairs. The students are now talking with local hardware stores to see if they can get donations of supplies for the project. They are also meeting with Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez to see if the District can assist them.
Alexis Yancey, Alyssa Gallegos and Nanena Baca are all part of the Upward Bound program, which allows students at the High School to take dual-credit courses at Northern New Mexico College. The students are taking a course this semester called “Participatory Action Research.”
The course requires each student to create and execute a community service project. For the students, the High School was the first choice when looking for a project.
They started by interviewing their classmates and creating focus groups to figure out what the student body saw as the biggest need. The conditions of the restrooms, as well as lack of teachers, were the issues most mentioned by High School students.
The students explained the extent of the problem before the Española School Board Feb. 19. They showed pictures of toilet paper wrapped around doors because there were no locks. Paint, feminine hygiene dispensers and even entire doors were also missing.
Baca told the Board that two to three stalls will be out of order at any given time.
“It’s been like that since we were there,” Yancey said. “I think the students were just uncomfortable.”
The students, who are all set to graduate this year, said they want to see improvements made not just for their sake, but also for future generations of Española Valley students.
“We want to see a better environment for us and also future generations,” Yancey said.
The students said the District has not fixed the problem because many staff and administrators use their own restrooms separate from those used by students.
“They don’t see what we really see as students,” Gallegos said.
They proposed their project before High School Principal Victoria Gonzales and Gutierrez, both of whom supported the idea.
“I think they just need a good face-lift,” Gutierrez said.
She estimated the project would cost anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000.
The students said there is no deadline by which they need to have the project done, but that they would like to finish before graduation this spring.
“We’re definitely willing to do things over the summer, though,” Yancey said.
Needed supplies include doors, mirrors, locks and buckets of paint.
Board President Yolanda Salazar thanked the students for their project. The restrooms, she said, have been in bad condition since she was a student at the High School.