by Katelyn Blake

Students walking to first period in the 400 hallway on Wednesday, Oct. 27,  saw custodian Jerry Jensen drilling a board to cover a hole in the wall across from the girls’ bathroom. Jensen wasn’t smiling.

“If you are mad at someone,” said Jensen, “go punch a brick wall and break your hand instead of breaking a wall.”

According to Jensen, the average number of broken walls at Atlantic High School in a year is about four. The building is 15 years old this year, which means custodians have mended as many as sixty holes. In the first quarter of 2010-11, AHS has already had three cases of holes in the walls.

Jensen pointed out the imperfections in the wall from past damage while walking down the 400 hallway. He explained that there is a meticulous, timely process that goes into fixing a hole in the wall.

First, the hole has to be cut between the studs in the wall to have support. Then a patch must be placed over it and covered with mud (patching compound). Jensen lets the patch sit for 24 hours before it can be sanded. This mudding and sanding process must be repeated at least three times.

Once the patch is solid, it must be primed and painted. The whole process takes a minimum of three days with the drying stages, although it only takes three to four man-hours. Most of this work must be done after school hours so it does not get fiddled with by students walking down the hall, explained Jensen.

When asked about all the holes in the wall around the school, senior Cody Mudd said, “I think it is pretty stupid. If you want to be a moron, do it somewhere else.”