Clara Martinez

Faustina Tavasolli (’23) uses a free cubby to store her bag during a free period Sept. 7. The cubbies have undergone multiple attempts of individual possession among Grade 12 members since the beginning of the school year, with students using sticky notes, typed labels and laminated name tags to secure a locker.

Tucked underneath the central staircase to the High School, Bottom O is a shared space for all members of the Grade 12 class. Since the beginning of the school year, disagreement has risen over assignments for the 45 available cubbies in Bottom O to a Grade 12 class with 136 members.

Student Council President Darren Morris (’23) said sticky notes with student names began appearing on cubbies the first day of school, motivating others to quickly claim the remaining spaces.

“There was this sort of panic as more and more people started labeling their cubbies,” he said. “Then, there’s this fear that if you don’t label your cubby, you’re never going to be able to have one, so it sort of built on itself.”

Grade 12 Dean Duncan Pringle said although Bottom O is a “communal space” and the cubbies “don’t belong to anyone,” the administration is not involved in regulation. 

Morris said he does not support the claiming of the cubbies given Bottom O’s purpose as a shared area.

“It’s this sort of self-serving bastion of community values, friendship, courage, integrity and all the Core Values,” he said. “However, what it’s morphed into is just a faux locker for whoever puts their name on it.”

Meanwhile, Kyle Kettler (’23), a member of the Varsity soccer team, said extracurricular activities should factor into the possession of cubbies. She said she has a laminated name tag as a place to store her sports bag when she has practice.

“I think everyone should have a cubby, and I understand that there’s not enough, but if you don’t have a use for it there’s no need to delegate them to people,” she said.

Although Kettler said cubbies are a “point of convenience” for students participating in sports, Kettler said cubbies should not be exclusively reserved for athletes.

Morris said all labels were removed from the cubbies less than a week after their initial appearance, but students began laminating and taping name tags in protest. 

“I hoped that having every single name tag ripped off would send a message to people who wanted to put a nametag there that that’s not how we’re going to do things anymore,” he said. “But, their response is to fight fire-with-fire and laminate.”

Pringle said the debate over locker assignments is amusing because Grade 12 students had the opportunity to opt for a locker surrounding the Orange pod.

“I chuckle to myself,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Ultimately, Morris said the Grade 12 class should come to an agreement on cubby organization. 

“Going sort of over the heads of students to get them taken down defeats the purpose of the senior class coming together and Bottom O in general,” he said. “I think this is something that we need to resolve internally.”