Do you ever walk into the bathroom and immediately get hit with a wave of smoke? 

For many students this is a daily occurrence. Fischer LaPlant (10) and Isaiah Valdez (10) took it upon themselves to make change. They are proposing that the district implement detectors in the bathrooms to prevent smoke gatherings during school. 

“I think it is very important that this [gets implemented]. For one it is not just a problem for me, but for many other students including students that smoke, [thus making it] not a safe space. It makes people uncomfortable [in general but also] for people who used to smoke [because] It gives them triggers. It can [also] cause migraines and [it affects] people [who] have asthma,” said LaPlant.  

After interviewing over 30 students and staff members, LaPlant and Valdez came up with their action plan.

“Our first step of action is to talk to Mr. Greenwell. We are hoping he sides with us along like all the other students and teachers have. Our next step would be to talk to the school board and hopefully install detectors in all restrooms at Heritage,” said Valdez. 

After a reportedly very successful meeting with Principal Chip Greenwell, their next goal is to move forward with creating a task force that works with administration on fixing this issue.

“I love when students advocate for [themselves and] the school. [This] task force will look at all the information to solve the problem,” said Greenwell. 

The task force has already begun meeting as of December 12. In the meeting they discussed next steps and identified specific areas of improvement.

While the issue of vapes on campus has been previously discussed in The Talon before in last year’s edition, it is important to continue to use the rights of the press until this issue is as close to solved as possible.

If you feel strongly towards or against this idea, please fill out the petition by going to tinyurl.com/hhsvapesurvey.