More than a year after the Truslow Commons closed, the new and improved Reddy Student Union is fully up and running. With all this time that has passed, expectations were high. Will the students get all the spaces that they promised?
The Dining Hall, which opened this past August, brings a shiny new space for people of all grades to eat. However, because the second floor wasn’t finished, and the whole school uses the Dining Hall to eat, the window for Upper Schoolers to work in the Dining Hall was small. The second floor, titled the Reddy Student Union, which just opened this past month, is an exclusive area for Upper School students only. But are the students satisfied with what we have?
For the most part, yes. According to the majority of students we surveyed, the Reddy Student Union is a good workspace, with 83% of the respondents saying they felt like they could be productive there. In addition, the majority said that throughout the day, the Student Union doesn’t feel crowded, adding to the space’s sense of focus.
Students also found the lockers to be a good addition to the space, with over 80% of our respondents said they are pleased with the new lockers. Lockers were sorely missed while the Reddy Student Union was being built, so more students, especially freshmen and sophomores, having easy access to their own storage area is greatly appreciated.
One concern that came up was the lack of decorations and uniform color among the Reddy Student Union. One student said that it felt more like a hospital and less like a school. On the contrary, another student stated that they thought the design was “very pretty and visually pleasing.” This goes to show the variety of opinions on the design. However, the facilities team is slowly adding more decorations as time goes on, such as the bulletin board, new digital clock, and hopefully more in the near future.
A source of confusion thus far has been who can access the Fabrication Lab. It contains machines such as 3D printers, laser cutters, T-shirt presses, and more. Would students have access to these without being in a Maker space class, like the new “Intro to Innovation” elective? Luckily Dr. Munhofen told Ram Report that MVS is currently hiring an “Associate Director of Innovation” who will oversee the materials and machines in the Fabrication Lab. Anyone who wishes to use the room outside a class will have to coordinate with this person, and take on any necessary steps such as training. It’s suspected that these services will be made available to Upper School students next Fall.
Another major source of contention in the Upper School this past month has been regarding Announcements. For the past year, due to construction, announcements have been held in the Lane Gym. Since the Student Union’s opening, announcements are now taking place there. The results, according to our data, were that just over 57% of our respondents prefer the Lane Gym over the Reddy Student Union for Announcements. While this is the majority, opinions might change as time passes. We’re continuing to settle in and figure out the new motions we have to go through, so patience with the system is key.
Overall, students are pleased with the Reddy Student Union. When asked to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1-10, the average score was a respectable 7.89/10.
If you really feel passionate about having announcements in one place or another, write a Guest Ram Report article about it! The subject hasn’t grown tired yet, so we would love to hear what you have to say.