Willie Zempel
Feature/Entertainment Editor
Some juniors camped out all night at the senior entrance to get a parking pass on Aug. 9.
Junior Joge Shimotani, one of the first people there, said, “I thought the passes were going to be extremely limited. That’s why I showed up there so early.” Shimotani arrived at 12:30 a.m.
By 2 a.m. about 20 people were there, according to Shimotani. Slips were handed out around 6:30 a.m. to ensure the students their place in line. Then at 8:30 a.m., the slips were traded in for parking passes.
“When I showed up to school around 4:45 a.m., there were around 30 kids there already. This was the most kids there of any year. Usually there are only around two to six,” principal Jon Clark said.
“It was kind of like a social event,” Shimotani said. “People brought blankets, pillows, Monopoly, water guns and water balloons.” Shimotani also said he accidentally “nailed” a girl in the face with a water balloon from 20 feet away. “It was a pretty drama-filled night.”
According to Clark, parking passes are still available to buy today, so there was no need to get there so early.
Shimotani said, “Personally, I think it’s a fun class-bonding time. Logistically it’s not (the best idea), though, to have a ton of teens walking around on the street in the middle of the night.”
About if there could be improvements to the way parking passes are handed out, Clark said the school administration is discussing it. They may consider some type of raffle system which would be fair to all students.
Shimotani recommended the current system to continue. “Junior class next year should make it an event. A lot more people should come. Bring tents. Bring everything. After a long summer, it’s good to have more class bonding to help with your class chemistry.”
