Seniors’ Last Friday Going Out Just Like The Electricity
Brad Yarbrough using his phone flashlight to lighten up some of the hallway.
May 10, 2019
Friday, May 10, students of McIntosh came into the school with no air conditioning, no power, and no WiFi. The power went out at the school around 7:45 a.m., during zero period. All electricity was out throughout the school, with the exception of the backup power lights that were in the cafeteria. There were certain areas of the school that were so dark, that teachers would be holding up their cell phone flashlights to help the students make it to their first period.
The outage ranged from the Fresh Market near Booth Middle School to the Chick-Fil-A in Kedron Village. Due to the power outage, the traffic light on N Peachtree Pkwy and Highway 54 was not working, which caused drivers to use the light as a four way stop and busses being late dropping off students at the high school.
The power outage affected close to 800 homes, according to assistant principal and athletic director Ms. Stacey Smith.
“I think a transformer was out,” said Smith. “At the time we were communicating with the county, who was communicating with Georgia Power. They had not located it at that time.”
The power came back on at the high school around 9 a.m.
If the power had not come back on for awhile, it is uncertain when and if the students would have been released from school. Administration had a backup plan regarding lunch if the electricity was still out at noon, according to Resource Officer Chris Judy.
In this situation, it is hard to account for all of the students that are in the school with the power being out because teachers are unable to communicate regarding who is at school and who is not.
“We just have to make sure we know where everyone is at,” said Judy. “That’s why they sent y’all to first period versus mass chaos in the cafeteria and the gym.”
Senior Shane Karafanda came into school thinking he was getting free food, but instead, was just being sent to the cafeteria with the rest of the students.
“Corporal Judy told us to go to the lunchroom and he said that Mr. Haber had free breakfast for us,” said Karafanda. “Little did we know that he was lying. I’m a little disgusted, but I’ll go on with my day. It is what it is.”
