Every morning, Marisa Meiners, sophomore, like many other students, has the reflex to put her ID on right when she walks in the building. Others franticly whip them out of their backpacks when Dr. Havener calls “Hey! Where’s your ID?” Then there are the students who skillfully dodge the staff members who they know will pester them about the absence of their IDs.
Once again, the administrative team has decided that IDs will be worn this school year. All staff members, students and visitors are encouraged to wear their IDs whenever they are on campus for safety reasons and to create a better environment.
“[The administrative team and I] believe that having [IDs] lets us know who is supposed to be on campus and who is not,” Dr. Mike Havener, principal, said. “Also, I think it sets a nice tone, whether it’s students talking to students, students to staff or staff to staff. It is nice to know who you are talking to.”
As many students and staff members have already noticed, IDs are a bit different this year. The company that took the yearbook pictures is offering two free IDs for every student who gets a picture. Because an off-campus company created them, their look has been changed. First, instead of a pioneer on one side and the person’s school picture on the other, the new IDs have the student’s school picture on both sides. Also, the student’s name is smaller, the bar code is larger and the background is in color.
Next year, some minor adjustments will take place to the current design. The administrative team would like to make the names larger and are discussing whether or not the IDs should be color coded as before. Also they are trying to make sure all students wear their IDs at all times by encouraging the staff to stress the policy to students.
“Last year, I didn’t really wear my ID that much, but this year I feel like teachers are much more strict about making us wear them and if not giving us temps,” Meiners said. “It’s sometimes annoying because if you don’t have it for a certain amount of time you have to buy a new one and spend money on an ID that you don’t even want to wear.”
Some students, like Meiners, dislike IDs because they are uncomfortable, irritating, get in the way or simply clash with the day’s outfit. However, others think there are some benefits to having IDs.
“I don’t have to type in my code for lunch all the time or in the library like in middle school, all I do is swipe,” Kara Krus, freshman, said. “And if you don’t know someone’s name or forgot it, you don’t have to awkwardly ask them. You just look at their ID.”
