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On February 26, Tam counselor Alexandra Hunt sent out an email to all students informing them that Counseling and Wellness Offices in Wood Hall would be temporarily relocated.
“Due to flooding and unpleasant moldy smell issues in the Counseling and Wellness offices in Wood Hall, we are temporarily moving all of our offices,” she wrote.
Hunt said that “We publicized our move by email to all students as well as on our social media accounts so that they are able to still find us. We wanted to make sure that our services were not interrupted or cut off.”
According to Hunt, counseling offices relocated on February 25. She wrote in the email that counselors will host meetings in Room 345 except for second period. During second period, counselors will be in Room 333 when Journalism has their class. Meetings requiring more confidentiality will be held in another space around campus.
“On Thursday [February 25], the counselors and Wellness staff met with Dr. Manning and agreed that moving to a new space for the time being would be a good idea to allow for further drying out and testing by the district for mold.” Hunt also noted that the counselors relocated by choice: “The group compiled a list of classrooms/private spaces throughout the campus and then did a walk through around campus to determine which rooms or spaces might be available and when.”
According to Hunt, the counseling/wellness hallway flooded during ski week. She mentioned that the majority of rooms down the hallway “were either soaked or under water when we returned on Monday, Feb. 23. In addition to the floors being saturated with water, the smell from the stagnant water and wet carpets/furniture was quite unpleasant… after a few days of dampness, the smell was unbearable.”
Counseling secretary and registrar Jane Shapiro said she will still work in the counseling office to help with transcripts and registration, and Tam counselor Sandy Pula said that her office was not affected by the flooding.
Yvonne Milham has worked as a wellness coordinator for seven years. According to her, this is the third time the Wellness Center has flooded this year.
“While Wellness was closed, students didn’t have space to take a brain break or the ease of connecting with someone to talk to,” she said. “They didn’t have access to the fresh fruit or Simple Mills snacks donated by Simple Mills and by THF, access to the coldest water on campus, or have the ease of referring themselves or their friends for support.” Milham added that Wellness is now in a new, temporary location for the time being.
Wellness outreach specialist Sophia Kauffman said that Wellness has flooded this school year during winter break, midwinter break, and the night of February 24.
Kauffman, a wellness specialist that has worked at Tam for five years, said that “With the Wellness Center and our Wellness offices closed due to flooding, students miss out on not only their scheduled therapy sessions but also all the other things Wellness offers: a safe space to regulate and take a brain break; a space to receive sexual health resources; and many more resources.”
Hunt said that “The water seems to be coming up from below as opposed to running into our offices from above ground. This means there are some structural or drainage concerns with the building or that possibly the construction on campus has inadvertently affected how water drains from the hill, and our flooding is an unforeseen consequence.” She added that “The district will most likely do some investigating in June when the rainy season is over and when students/staff are not on campus; and hopefully they’ll come up with a game plan to correct the problem so that it doesn’t continue to occur every time it rains.”
“We don’t mind working out of different spaces, and in fact, have enjoyed working all together in one space,” Hunt said. “Because it’s hopefully temporary, we’ve embraced the newness and it feels a bit like being away at camp. It does mean that having quiet or confidential meetings with students can be tricky, but we have been able to find spaces for that.”
Hunt mentioned that the hardest part about the change is getting used to the inconvenience of not being in her office. She said that “I am definitely getting my steps in having to go back and forth between multiple locations to make this arrangement work,” since counselors have had to transport materials from their offices, often with multiple trips.
“I try to make sure I write all my passes for the upcoming day the night before in order to deliver them to the main office first thing in the morning,” Hunt said. “I take home any paperwork that I need to file, scan, or make copies of in order to do that first thing in the morning in either the counseling office or main office before I head to our new location in Keyser. This way I don’t have to keep going back and forth… Knowing that it’s temporary helps a great deal with any frustration that arises.”