BRITTANI LUSK - Daily Herald | Posted: Monday, August 27, 2007 11:00 pm
Willis Carrier first created air conditioning in 1902. The first home unit appeared in a mansion in Minneapolis in 1914. It was 1926 before the first office building had air conditioning. The U.S. Senate chambers didn't get it until 1929. Today we can't seem to live without it.
Students, teachers and staff at Centennial Middle School in Provo have been working without air conditioning since before school started. Teachers are getting fans to keep students cool, and one is even selling bottled water.
The air conditioning could be working by today, though, if all goes well.
"There are no guarantees anymore, I'm finding out. We are hoping that it will be running for teachers and students," said Greg Hudnall, Provo School District's director of student services.
Earlier this year when the district was preparing to build an addition to the school, officials realized that the existing cooling system was not adequate for the old and new parts of the school. The district appropriated extra money, but had a hard time finishing all the projects it had taken on.
When school started on Aug. 20, Hudnall said the district was waiting for a part. The school went without air conditioning all last week. Hudnall said the part arrived over the weekend, and crews were working to fix the problem Monday.
The environment inside the school has been hot, but not unbearable.
Kathy Schlendorf teaches seventh- and eighth-grade English and French at Centennial. She said the mood at the school has been lethargic.
"It was hard to keep up the energy that one needed to be dynamic," Schlendorf said. "I literally had sweat pouring off my face."
Seventh-grader Evan Clark said Monday that he was hot. But his teachers understand that their students are tired.
"Everything's pretty laid back," Clark said.
He said his math teacher didn't give homework because he was too hot and tired to correct it.
Schlendorf said she felt that she was adapting to the high temperatures.
"I don't feel so drained. Maybe it's because we're getting used to it," she said.
Schlendorf said she got a fan for her classroom Thursday. She's started selling water in her classroom for a 25 cents a bottle.
Ron Tobler, the program manager of environmental health for the Utah County Health Department, said he had been to the school and checked the temperature. It was between 84 and 87 degrees on Friday.
The Health Department will close a school if the temperature inside reaches 99 degrees, or the humidity is high.
Many schools didn't have air conditioning in the 1960s so the Health Department created a plan to monitor heat. That plan is still in place. All of the schools in Provo and Alpine school districts have air conditioning. Schools in the Nebo School District have swamp coolers and window units.
Friday, Centennial Middle School was in the caution range. Under the Health Department's plan, when schools reach the extreme caution level, they are supposed to identify students at risk and send them home. At the danger level, schools would close.
Tobler said when air conditioners aren't working, it's important to drink a lot of water and sports drinks to replace salt lost in perspiration. He also recommended wearing light clothing and not layering.
Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.