An ode to 029

“Take care of the room, and the room will take care of you”- class of 2021 senior quote

Room 029, is place all Central students should be able to call home at least once in their high school careers. Whether you were pulled out of class to do an interview in Blayney’s back room, used her back door to go get coffee at the Bike Union, or enjoyed a bag of burnt microwave popcorn, which fellow staff writer Ella Levy and I indulged in on multiple occasions, everyone should be given the opportunity to be pulled into 029 and experience a unique environment unmatched by any other in the building. This year was my first in 029 and on Register staff, and I am incredibly grateful I got to experience all the room and journalism program at Central has to offer in Mrs. Blayney’s last year as advisor. While most high school classroom environments encourage us to be the change we want to see and follow our passions, in Blayney’s room we were actually given that opportunity. The Register and O-Book are both student run publications, and Mrs. Blayney rarely set limits on what we could and couldn’t report on, she constantly encouraged us to write about what we cared about and to speak on school and community issues that were directly affecting us. In addition to being an outstanding journalism advisor she was kind enough to allow me to skip my lunch period daily, and stay in 029 to work on stories. As well as writing me countless passes to the library & to AP Psychology when I lost track of time and ran late to my next class, a kindness she offered to many other journalism students. It’s crazy to me there are students who roam our halls unaware of the transformative experience that lies inside 029, students that are unaware of the ambiance of the interview room’s hung fairy lights, or the jump scare that accompanies a roach sighting by our computer lab. Students that will never wade through the puddle of water and dead leaves that remains year round outside Blayney’s door, students that will never see her shrine to Mark Wahlberg. I feel very fortunate that I am not one of those students. I am greatly appreciative that I experienced 029 food days, interviews while sitting chairs that felt like they might give out on you, and that I got to know what it means to be a newspaper staffer under Blayney’s advisement.